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MEET THE FOUNDERS
Dana Yeaton
Dana Yeaton is Professor Emeritus of Writing at Middlebury College and founder of Oratory Now, a centre for training and research in oral expression. As a dramatist and teacher, his work with writers and speakers has been shaped by the demands of a live audience, where language is tested in real time.
In his speaking lab, Yeaton built up from the source - classical rhetoric, one of the founding liberal arts, where speech was treated as a civic and embodied skill. He and his student coaches treated the speaker as a kind of rhetorical athlete, training body and mind through disciplined practice informed by contemporary research on performance and learning.
From that work emerged the Oratory Method, a distillation of training techniques that proved themselves over years of use with students, faculty, and early-career professionals.
Abhir Suri
Abhir Suri is an undergraduate at Middlebury College, where he studies Psychology and Global Studies, and trains as a Head Speaking Coach within the Oratory Now framework. His work is shaped by a sustained interest in how people think, speak, behave and create meaning, particularly under conditions of uncertainty and pressure. Across his academic and creative work, he explores language not simply as expression, but as a way of organising experience and ethical presence.
His thinking has been shaped by close engagement with literature, psychology, and performance, as well as by sustained practice in speaking and listening as embodied acts.
An alumnus of The Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay - Abhir is an author, podcaster, and artist, alongside his academic work. His debut poetry collection, Sunglasses and Duct Tape, earned him recognition as one of Delhi Wire’s 'Top 50 Most Influential Indian Authors of 2024'. He is also the host of The Monkey Mind Lab, a podcast that unpacks big ideas in accessible ways, through conversations with academics, artists, thinkers and more.
