I do 1-to-1 coaching in interview technique, audition technique, public speaking, elocution, presentation skills, communication skills, accent modification



 I often use visualisation techniques with my clients. This is one for when you’ve been stuck at your desk, or behind a computer screen; your energy’s low; you’re going into an important meeting or presentation. It might be good to do some physical exercise, to wake yourself up, but it’s not possible. So: imagine you’re watching yourself on a video:

You’re RUNNING UP AND DOWN STAIRS or SWIMMING LENGTHS OF THE POOL or HITTING A TENNIS or CRICKET or GOLF or FOOTBALL, or YOU’RE IN THE GYM… RIDING A HORSE… DANCING A TANGO… CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN…
First your breathing changes. Energy rises. CONTINUE for 2 or 3 minutes. Watch yourself, be there with yourself. Focus on something important – a key phrase – at the climactic moment of your visualisation, imagine yourself shouting out your phrase. You’ve really said it. Achieved something.
Doesn’t that feel good?
You might want to try a second phrase… and a third. See yourself getting full recognition for saying it right.




  Clients include:

 Barclays Bank
Buro Happold
CMS Cameron
McKenna
Goldman Sachs
Home Office
Morgan Stanley
NHS
Nortel Networks
St Katharine & Shadwell Trust
Taylor Wessing





VOCAL QUALITY

alan woodhouse voice coachWhen someone speaks, do you always want to listen? No.
How would you describe the voices you like?
Warm? Friendly? Authoritative? Powerful? Sexy? What else?
How would you describe the voices you don’t want to listen to?


Is it the pitch? Too high, too low?
Is it the sound quality? Cold? No emotion? Harsh? Too nasal? Whining? Too slow, too fast? Mumbling?
You’d like to listen, but somehow you feel uninvited, put-off, left-out, turned-off, not welcome.

 

YOU NEED A VOICE COACH

 

  If this is your first business presentation or speech

  You've made a great career move; the stakes are higher; important people are listening: it’s your chance to make you mark

  You’re entering a new job market; lots of interviews; do you sound as good as you are

  You lack confidence – in your voice, in your ability to organise material for a presentation or speech: you need to deliver well

 

  Control the fear of speaking in public

  Increase vocal power and projection

  Develop a voice that commands respect

  Inspire others and motivate them to action

 

When you speak, do others listen? If not, why not?

GEORGE HAS GOT THE SHAKES

George has a great career opening up. He likes his job, he likes his colleagues. He likes the payments into his bank at the end of the month. But they need him to do more Presentations. More high-powered meetings. And oh the fear, oh the shaking legs, and oh the dry throat and the tiny little voice that’s all he can manage to squeeze out. Inside, everything is fine. He’s confident. He feels fully able to meet the demands of the job. If it weren’t for what happens when he has to speak in public.

SARAH HAS VOCAL IMAGE PROBLEMS

Sarah feels really lucky. She’s made good progress in her career. But she knows there’s something missing. Or rather something that’s not quite right. Sometimes, even in a smallish room, she sees that puzzled look on people’s faces. Can’t they hear her? Is it her accent? Is she speaking too quickly? She knows that she has the tendency to gabble a bit, especially in the heat of the moment. Is her voice too high, or too low? It’s beginning to be a worry.

Friends have sometimes made comments about her voice being a bit nasal, a bit monotone. Just in fun, so she’d thought. What should she do? Everything else about the job is going well.

MARK’S GOT A SORE THROAT

Mark’s full of energy. Always focussed. As ready to listen as he is to speak. He always seems prepared and on top of things. His presentations are well structured, and well delivered. But promotion has led to greater responsibility. He needs to present more often. The meetings are bigger – more people, larger rooms. And his voice is feeling a little worn. He can hear a rough edge to the sound. It’s a bit dry. Underpowered, especially towards the end of the day. He enjoys writing the material. But it sounds so much better when he’s reading it in his head. More dynamic somehow. And he’s really worried that his voice won’t hold out. Even drinking more water – which he’s been assured is the thing to do – doesn’t really help. Sometimes his throat aches.

 

I WILL WORK WITH YOU ON:

Relaxation Breathing    Vocal Tone    Vocal Variety

Speed   Pacing   Diction

Volume Control    Accent Modification

 

‘One of the most intriguing hours I've ever spent…Alan has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the human voice.’
MARCUS BERRY, General Manager World Radio Geneva

‘… combines sensitivity with charm and exuberance with enthusiasm to release deep inhibitions and improve anyone's performing skills.’
JENNY DAWES, St Katharine & Shadwell Trust, London

‘I was lacking confidence in my oral communication… this was hindering my career as an IT manager in the finance industry … I made significant progress in a short period of time.’
MICHAEL K. LAM, Morganstanley

‘As a voice and acting coach, his work is of the highest quality.’
ROBERT D. FREEBURN, The Voice & Speech Centre

Copyright ® 2005 woodhousevoice.co.uk

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