Voice Matters

3 min read

In praise of poetry

Reciting poetry, along with pretty well all training in reading aloud, has disappeared from the modern classroom. And I think we’re the...

6 min read

Voice matters: How your voice works

Making best use of your voice is important. Let’s look now at how it actually works. Your voice is part of your anatomy, so we’re going...

2 min read

Microphones: a beginner’s guide

Mics come in several types. The first clips to your lapel or collar. It has a battery pack, which you wear at your waistband, A lapel...

2 min read

Getting mad in public

When do public speakers and presenters need to get mad? Well…. If you are involved in a cause, or you’re an activist, a politician, or...

2 min read

Teachers - your voice!

Teachers treat their main tool of trade to huge stress every single day. Whenever you talk loudly, over background noise, across large...

3 min read

Lovely Voices: Your Grandma, the voice of contentment

The fact that my adult daughter had not read Winnie the Pooh is an indictment of everyone who has known her up until this point. The...

1 min read

Lovely voices: James Earl Jones. Boomy, smoky, pause master.

I challenge you not to ge tingles when you listen to this.Your voice is an instrument, and using it to best effect takes practice. James...

3 min read

Laryngitis? Here’s how to fix it.

Colds, coughs and laryngitis are all too common. If you rely heavily on your voice— teaching, talking to clients, singing—even a few...

2 min read

Lovely Voices: David Attenborough, natural wonder.

Attenborough is a magician. He entrances and intrigues us. Fuelled by his own fascination with his subject and his genius for...

1 min read

Lovely Voices: Edward Tufte, the Chart Master

Way before the digital era and the info-graphic, Tufte laid down principles of good information design that are still the gold standard....

1 min read

Lovely Voices: David Tennant, pitch perfect.

Tennant gets much of his character and ‘actorly’ personality from the way he varies his pitch and inflection. Pitch is just like a note...

2 min read

Lovely Voices: the race caller

Purely information-based speeches are tough gigs. Think of a witness testifying in court, or a student announcing the results at the...

2 min read

Lovely Voices: Billy Collins, the poetry of understatement.

When you describe Billy Collins you have to use words that don’t normally go together: contemporary best-selling poet. He gets (it’s...

4 min read

Voice Care for Speakers

Look after your voice! All public speakers need to know how to maintain their most important asset. If you’re a professional talker, you...

Ms Claire Duffy