Some of the spellers simply get their word and spell, but others have exchanges with Dr. Jacques Bailly, the Bee's pronouncer.
Isabel Cholbi (Speller 18) walked to the microphone with a, "Howdy, Dr. Bailly."
"Howdy," he replied. "How are you, Isabel?"
"I'm great," the California seventh grader said.
She spelled "escargot" correctly, but not before responding "That makes sense" to the sentence Dr. Bailly read her: "Mike's favorite recipe for escargot was any recipe that made it taste less like escargot."
Before he spelled "vivace" correctly, Ram Koganti (Speller 68), an Illinois eighth grader, had a quick exchange with Dr. Bailly, too.
"Hi. What's up?" he asked.
"Not much," Dr. Bailly replied.
"That's good," Ram answered.