AM I THE RIGHT COACH FOR YOU?

People often email to ask what kind of coach I am. They want to know what my coaching style is and how I might go about helping them. I love getting these emails. I want to hug these emails and invite them round to my flat so we can drink tea and put the world to rights. They’re great because they give me a chance to explain who I am and how I work, because while I’m good at what I do, the reality is, I’m not the right coach for everyone. So let me set out a little about how I work, and you can decide from there…

I’m an incredibly pragmatic coach.

The last thing I want is for you to be hunched over a page worrying about phonetic symbols or how your diaphragm works. I don’t want your voice and accent work to take you into your head and distance you from what you are trying to communicate. Voice work should bring you closer to your message.

So, while I’m VERY keen to get you understanding the rules and the patterns of a new accent, or how your voice works, I have lots of ways to get you there without forcing you to learn the phonetic alphabet, or giving you a full blown biology lesson. I promise!

Where would be the fun in that?! Besides, it would be a waste of time. We all learn in completely different ways.

My coaching draws from a vast range of voice, accent, acting and personal development coaching frameworks, as well as from many years of experience. My magpie like approach means that I’m not trapped in any one school of thought and that I’m always able to start from where YOU are and offer tailored solutions to suit YOUR needs.

If you’re an actor, I will work hard to try and fit with your own acting process. I love the challenge of figuring out the best way for YOU to approach this work.

I’m the queen of the gentle push.

I am supportive and encouraging but I am also honest and realistic. Making changes to your voice, speech and accent patterns requires a lot of hard work, time and patience. So we might as well have some fun along the way.

I will absolutely challenge you to get out of your comfort zone (there’s no changing of voice, speech or accent patterns without it, I’m afraid!) but I promise I’ll do so with a sense of fun, kindness and zero judgement.

Speech is a physical action. If you want to break out of your own habitual voice and speech patterns, you’ve got to get your body on side too. Also (and this is a pretty crucial part of the process), moving gets you out of your head, it distracts your mind and leaves your body free to embrace the new.

Repetition is key when it comes to learning but it is absolutely crucial to voice and accent work. We want to get your muscle memory working for you and not against you.

I WON’T JUST GIVE YOU THE TOOLS YOU NEED, I’LL HELP YOU MAKE A PLAN FOR USING THEM.

I know from the experience of working with hundreds of clients, and because I’m a human being, that the more we want something, the more likely we are to put it off. I’ll help you set clear measurable goals and tasks so that you can feel and measure your progress.

I’ll keep you accountable.

If you say you’re going to do something, I’ll check in to see if you followed through. Trust me—I know how easy it is to say you’ll do something…and then how hard it is to actually do it. I’ll help you close that gap.

A commitment to regular coaching is a commitment to growth. It’s an investment of time, energy and money. That’s one of the reasons it works.

Consider me your guide on the side; firmly on your team and completely invested in coaxing the very best out of you.