Cathleen’s academic and practical grounding in voice and how to apply it is second to none
I have over ten years expertise working on Voice for Performers and Voice for Business and Professionals.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, sessions are available via Zoom, Skype or any other online platform we can both access. I am based in London (GMT) but sessions are possible across all time zones.
Voice for Performers
The work we did together has not only given me a better voice – with more truth, range and resonance – it has made me a better actor
Your voice is one of your greatest assets as a performer.
Whatever your area of performance – actor, narrator, storyteller, comedian, speaker – I can work with you to make your voice and text skills the best they can possibly be.
As a voice coach with an acting background myself, I’m passionate about helping people to develop the best possible version of their voice, finding range, flexibility and freedom without ever losing their unique, idiosyncratic qualities.
My work is person-centred, non-judgemental, supportive and enabling
There are many areas I can help with
Vocal Technique
Producing your voice requires the involvement an extraordinary number of muscles and processes within the body: breath, thought, alignment, ribs, diaphragm, throat, tongue, spine to name but a few. This means that there are many areas we can look at to improve your technique, or to solve any issues you feel may be holding your voice back.
Detailed Work On Discovering Character Through Text And Language
If you are preparing to play a part with complex language, classical or modern, there are many practical and fun ways in which we can break down the text, find the acting possibilities within it, and equip you to go into rehearsal confident and ready to play.
Dialect Coaching
Some people are lucky enough to have a fabulous ear for accents, but if not, then fortunately there is a systematic process we can apply to any accent, working practically on areas such vowels, consonants and rhythm/intonation and marrying these with aspects of text and character.
Audition Speeches
Whether you are preparing for drama school or professional auditions, we can work together on a specific speech, classical or modern, to really mine all the possibilities of the text and leave you feeling confident and ready.
Audio narration & voiceover
Whether your area is narration, animation, gaming or drama, the world of audio demands great vocal creativity, flexibility and clarity. I can give you techniques for developing character voices whilst protecting your vocal health and stamina, help you prepare accents, or offer ways of exploring texts to bring pace, rhythm and variety to your work.
Voice Warm Ups
if you would like to learn how to warm up your voice, or would like a reminder of old, half-forgotten warm up techniques from drama school, then we can work through a safe and effective sequence which can also be recorded for your future use.
Voice for Professionals and Business
Whatever your job, much of your effectiveness and success depends on how you use your voice to communicate with others. It is easy to feel that your voice is somehow letting you down at work: perhaps you find your voice wavering when asked to present at meetings, or you feel that you speak in a monotone and want to find more variety and colour. Perhaps you find your voice getting strained and tired by the end of the day, especially nowadays, with endless online meetings. Or perhaps you want to refresh the way in which you present material at work, finding new ways to use words and language in a way that makes them “sticky” for your audience.
Over the past ten years, I have worked with lawyers, doctors, teachers, bankers, police officers, fashion buyers, politicians, film and theatre directors, media professionals and many many others, using my voice and text skills to help them to achieve a healthy, flexible and expressive voice and to use language more persuasively and effectively. I can work with you to identify the precise source of any issues and give you practical exercises, tips and strategies for development.
Areas I can work on include
Voice
Practical work on developing the range, resonance and clarity of the voice
Public speaking
Dealing with nerves, being loud enough for the space, using pitch, pace and pause appropriately
Presentation skills
Making language persuasive and “sticky” by drawing on techniques from the world of rhetoric and dramatic writing
Vocal stamina
Practical strategies to prevent the voice becoming tired during demanding activities such as teaching or lecturing
Testimonials
Voice Coaching and Teaching Credits
2020, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
Europeana, dir. Maria Aberg
Company voice work (production pulled just before tech due to COVID 19)
2019, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Boy in the Dress, dir. Gregory Doran
Company voice work
2019, Great Theatre of China, Shanghai in association with RSC
The Merchant of Venice, dir. David Thacker
Company voice work
2019, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
Crooked Dances, dir. Elizabeth Freestone
Company voice, text and dialect work (French, Chilean, contemporary London)
2019, Royal Shakespeare Company, London/Stratford-upon-Avon
As You Like It, dir. Kimberley Sykes
Company voice and text work
2018, Royal Shakespeare Company, London/Stratford-upon-Avon
Troilus and Cressida, dir. Gregory Doran
Company voice and text work
2018, Royal Shakespeare Company, London/Stratford-upon-Avon
The Merry Wives of Windsor, dir. Fiona Laird
Company voice, text and dialect work (Polish, Russian, Chelsea, French, Welsh)
2018, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Duchess of Malfi, dir. Maria Aberg
Company voice and text work
2018, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, dir. Jo Davies
Company voice and text work
2017, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
A Christmas Carol, dir. Rachael Kavanaugh
Company voice and dialect work (Cockney)
2017, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
Salome, dir. Owen Horsley
Company voice and text work
2017, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
Vice Versa, dir. Janice Honeyman
Company voice, text and dialect work (Greek, Scottish)
2017, Young Vic, London
A Midsummer Night’s Dream dir. Joe Hill-Gibbins
Company voice and text work
2016, National Theatre (Dorfman)
Love, dir. Alexander Zeldin
Company voice and text work.
2016, National Theatre (Dorfman)
A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, dir. Bryony Kimmings
Company voice work.
2016, National Theatre (Olivier)
The Threepenny Opera, dir. Rufus Norris
Assisting Head of Voice with company voice work.
2016, National Theatre (Olivier)
Les Blancs, dir. Yael Farber
Assisting Head of Voice with company voice and text work.
2016, National Theatre (Lyttelton)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, dir. Dominic Cooke
Assisting Head of Voice with company voice and text work.
2016, National Theatre/Wyndhams Theatre, London
People, Places and Things, dir. Jeremy Herrin
Company voice work.
2016, Gate Theatre, Notting Hill
Diary of a Madman, dir. Christopher Hayden
Dialect coach (Scottish)
2015, National Theatre (Temporary Theatre)
Comedy of Errors, dir. Bijan Shebani
Company voice and text work.
2015, National Theatre (Temporary Theatre)
Pomona, dir. Ned Bennett
Company voice and text work.
2014, Big hArt Theatre, South Bank Centre, London
Namatjira, dir. Scott Rankin/Luke Kernaghan
Company voice work for two indigenous Australian actors on international tour.
2014, Hampstead Theatre, London
The Glass Supper, dir. Abbey Wright
Voice development and character voice work with cast.
2013, Peckham Theatre Company, London
Othello, dir. Anthony Green
Individual voice and text sessions with cast members
2012, Royal Shakespeare Company (RST and Noel Coward Theatre, London)
Julius Caesar, dir. Greg Doran
Assisting RSC Head of Voice with company voice and text work
2012, Royal Shakespeare Company (RST and Noel Coward Theatre, London)
Much Ado About Nothing, dir. Iqbal Khan
Assisting RSC Head of Voice with company voice and text work
2012, Royal Shakespeare Company (Swan Theatre)
Song of Songs dir. Struan Leslie
Company voice and text work
2012, Trafalgar Studios, London
Tape, dir. Tom King
Accent and dialect coaching (General American)
2011-2016, Cambridge Theatre, London (RSC)
Matilda, dir. Matthew Warchus
Member of voice team providing nightly cast warm-ups and voice training for cast members.
2014 – 2017, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, London
Permanent member of faculty (0.5 contract) and sole voice tutor for the MA Acting, Classical and Contemporary strands, teaching practical voice, voice into acting, accents and dialects and providing show support.
2013-2014, Fourth Monkey Theatre & Rep Training Co, London
Practical voice, storytelling, character voice and accent and dialect tutor for actors training within a rep company system. Accents taught include: RP, General American and Cockney.
2013-2014, East 15, Loughton Campus, London
Voice and text tutor on BA Acting and MA International Acting courses.
2013, Rose Bruford College, Sidcup
Storytelling tutor: devising and leading a module on vocal techniques in performance storytelling for second year BA Acting/Actor Musician students. Also teaching speech fundamentals to second year BA Acting/Actor Musician students.
2012-2013, Arts Educational, London
Regular text and accent/dialect tutor on MA Acting course.
2012, American Musical Theatre Academy, London
Practical voice tutor for first and second year musical theatre students.
2011, Birmingham School of Acting, Birmingham
Tutoring MA Professional Voice Practice students on the pedagogy of accents and dialects and assessing their final accent presentations alongside the Head of Voice.
2011, Urdang Academy, London
Regular guest tutor: classes included modern text work and New York and US Deep South accent coaching.
2011, Giles Foreman Centre for Acting, London
Running a weekly “drop in” two hour voice class for students ranging from complete beginners to professional actors.
2010-2011, Rose Bruford College, Sidcup
Sole voice tutor for BA American Theatre Arts course 2010 – 11, writing and delivering a voice curriculum covering accents, dialects, body, breath, phonation, resonance, articulation and text work, conducting individual feedback tutorials with each student and providing written reports.
2020, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, India
Leading Zoom Shakespeare workshops
2019-20, Apple Inc, London
Voice support for recording projects (details covered by NDA).
2019-20, British Guild of Tourist Guides, London
Voice and presentation coaching for trainee London Blue Badge Guides.
2019, Lansons Communications, London
Rhetoric and public speaking workshops for reputation management firm, on behalf of RSC.
2019, BP, London
Rhetoric and public speaking workshops for oil company BP, on behalf of RSC.
2010-16, Speak Easily Voice Studio, London
Associate Coach for private voice studio providing one-to-one coaching in accent reduction, storytelling, communication and presentation skills. Hundreds of clients over the years included finance professionals, lawyers, doctors, teachers, politicians, police officers, academics and many others. Work ranged from one-to-one sessions to group classes, mostly in the Speak Easily studios but sometimes at the client’s office or home.
2018 and 2019, Teatro D. Maria II, Lisbon, Portugal
Summer intensive workshops on voice and text at Portugal’s National Theatre.
2015-17, Sussex University, Falmer, near Brighton
Running workshops on vocal clarity and communication skills for BA Journalism students as part of their broadcast journalism module.
2015, United Nations, Rome, Italy
Workshops on voice and presentation skills, plus one-to-one accent clarity work with staff of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development.
015, Birkbeck College, University of London
Running a series of workshops on voice and classical and modern text for MFA Directing students (on behalf of RSC).
2013-2016, National Operatic and Dramatic Association, UK-wide
Running intensive residential summer schools on specialisms including Shakespeare, Restoration Comedy and the work of David Mamet. Also travelling to individual theatre companies within the NODA network to run voice and acting workshops.
2012-2016, RSC “Open Stages”, UK-wide
Delivering numerous workshops to amateur theatre companies as part of the RSC’s nationwide programme to develop local theatre groups.
2012-15, National Theatre Learning, London
Delivering a variety of workshops on voice and text to groups of young people, teachers and theatremakers.
2011, Historic Scotland, Edinburgh
Working alongside a business coach to devise and deliver sessions on “Engaging the Customer” for workers in properties run by Historic Scotland.
2011, National Trust for Scotland, various venues around Scotland
Working alongside an educational consultant to devise and deliver training for National Trust tour guides on storytelling skills, tour guide technique and vocal use.
2011, City University, London
Working with another voice coach to devise and deliver training to academics and researchers on public speaking and presentational skills, including structure, content, delivery and dealing with nerves.
2011-2013, International Centre for Voice, CSSD, London
Volunteer role in the development and running of an organisation dedicated to the professional development of professional voice users, including planning workshops, seminars and members’ events.
