The Talk Shop, LLC was founded by Amanda Quaid, a New York-based speech, voice and breath coach. Here, performers and non-performers alike can learn skills to expand their capacity for expression.
Amanda’s clients include award-winning stage and film actors, supermodels, comedians, pop and opera singers, media personalities, corporate executives, and children. She began teaching speech at age 19, commuting from Vassar College on weekends to work with immigrants on accent reduction. Since then, she’s run a thriving private practice in New York City for over 20 years, working privately with actors and as a production dialect coach for plays, TV and film.
A certified Miller Voice Method instructor, she also works with adults and teens on vocal power and public speaking. She has a substantial client base of non-performers, everyone from trial lawyers to teens preparing to speak at their Bar Mitzvahs. As a certified Advanced Breathwork Practitioner and Kripalu Meditation Teacher, Amanda works with performing artists and others on breathing and meditation for stress reduction, energy management, and optimal health.
As an actor, Amanda has worked on and off-Broadway and regionally, in addition to her work in television and film. Her holistic approach to the particular acting challenges that arise when working in an accent is an area of specialty in her teaching. To see her own accent work, click here.
Amanda has taught at Maggie Flanigan Studio, The New School, Long Island University, Freeman Studio, HB Studio, Red Bull, and Heidi Marshall Studio. She’s been featured as an accent expert on WNYC, and her book, American Accent Drills for British and Australian Speakers, was published by Routledge in 2020. She is a past recipient of a SPARC grant from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, to design and lead Shakespeare training programs at NYC Senior Centers, along with a VASTA Research and Development grant. She also volunteers with environmental causes to train activists in public speaking, and speaks to high school students on the topic of accent diversity.