Curious about how I coach the American accent? Have a listen to this episode, which is an interview and mini accent-coaching session with Alistair Nwachukwu. Alistair is a UK-based actor and a recent LAMDA graduate who has been working with me on voice, acting and accents privately for some time. In this episode, we talk about his process for learning the American accent. Themes that come up are: learning an accent is like learning a dance. You have to learn the steps first. We talk through what...
Jan 11, 2022•56 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In case you haven't noticed, I have recently released my first online video course, The General American Accent Course Pack for Brits. In this episode, I talk about the inspiration behind the making of this course and what the course entails. Designed to be like a digital book/online course/ accent coach in your pocket, the course has over 3 hours of content and is broken down into 59 (short and easily digestible) videos that cover everything you need to know to authentically own a General ...
Sep 26, 2021•14 min•Season 3Ep. 9
This episode is part of a series where I talk with actors I’ve worked with about how they incorporate voice work into their craft. Georgina Onuorah is a London-based actress, singer and dancer. Her professional debut was playing Alice Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington at the National Theatre and she is currently the alternate Cinderella in the West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella . She graduated from ArtsEd in 2020, where I was one of her voice and speech teachers. During our con...
Aug 22, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 8
This episode is part of a series where I talk with actors I’ve worked with about their voices and how they incorporate voice work into their craft. In this episode, I talk with Sam Buchanan. Sam is a 23-year old actor from Kent, England. He graduated from ArtsEd's BA Acting program in 2019, which is where we met. I was one of Sam’s voice teachers there. He has appeared on “EastEnders”, is currently shooting a new global thriller for Amazon called “The Power” and a new BBC3 series called “Su...
Jul 11, 2021•47 min•Season 3Ep. 7
This episode is part of a series where I talk with actors I’ve worked with about how they incorporate voice work into their craft. In this episode, I talk with @willedgerton. Will is an actor originally from Wigan, who trained at ArtsEducational Schools London. He is currently in rehearsals to make his professional debut playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet at the Globe this summer, directed by Ola Ince. Will and I start by talking about his experience with adapting vocally to working in a large o...
Jun 13, 2021•52 min•Season 3Ep. 6
On the podcast, I've been doing a series on the ‘authentic’ voice— what does it mean to have an authentic voice? How do you find it? Where I’ve landed so far is that being an authentic communicator is not so much about a certain type of sound but about a feeling— how does it feel to you when you are communicating? Connected to your experience? Connected to the experience of who you’re talking to? This can be extremely difficult, because society doesn’t exactly help us to be this kind of com...
May 25, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 5
The authentic voice: how would you define it? This is the tiny, not at all philosophical topic I tackle in Season 3, Episode 4 of "Voice what Matters: the Podcast": ‘The Authentic Voice: Part 2’. In Part 1, I talked about what the word ‘authenticity’ means and what issues that throws up about how to find your own authentic voice. In this episode, I look at some useful and not useful questions to ask yourself if you are curious about communicating authentically. The big theme that comes...
May 02, 2021•8 min•Season 3Ep. 4
This is the first episode under the new 'Voice what Matters' title and, to celebrate, I've picked a juicy topic: Authenticity. It’s definitely a buzzword these days. Everyone is talking about authenticity. It’s something we value in our friends, our partners, our leaders and ourselves. And it comes up a lot in voice coaching— clients often want to find their authentic voice. But what exactly does that mean? This is the first episode in a 3-part series where I look at this topic. I...
Apr 11, 2021•10 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This is a brief episode to let you know that this will be the last episode under the ‘BeSpoke Speaks’ title. If you are a regular listener or subscriber, don’t fret. All of the old content will still be there, but everything is getting a shiny new name and logo. This is part of an evolution on my part. I am launching a new voice and communication coaching website and business, and I would like all of the content to have the same brand. So for those of you who have been listening for awhile, than...
Mar 15, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 4
This episode offers a warm up specifically for people who regularly speak publicly through technology, particularly podcasters. It’s a follow-up from a previous episode, ‘Vocal Consideration for Podcasters’, where I spoke with Ryan O’Shea, LA-based voice coach and podcaster, about what is helpful and not so helpful for podcasters to think about vocally. Where we landed in that episode is that the trap of podcasting is trying to listen to the way you sound and emulate a certain sound. Your audien...
Mar 01, 2021•29 min•Season 3Ep. 3
What do podcasters need to think about in terms of their voices? In this episode, ‘Voice for Podcasters: Conversation with Ryan O’Shea’, I talk to my good friend, fellow voice coach and podcaster, Ryan, about the vocal issues that the medium of podcasts presents, and how podcasters can address them. Ryan O’Shea is a voice, accent and public speaking coach based in LA. She also has a podcast called “Speaking of…conversations on voice, speech & identity with Ryan O’Shea” which delves into fasc...
Feb 10, 2021•56 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Happy New Year! More than ever before, you might be feeling like you need a refresher as we say ‘bye’ to 2020 and try to embrace 2021. We have reason to be hopeful that we will be back communicating in person regularly soon, but because we are starting off 2021 largely virtual, this first episode of Season 3 has got your back. This warm up is designed to help you release and prepare the body, breath and voice for virtual communication. Long periods of virtual communication can lead to a lot of t...
Jan 04, 2021•17 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Hi Friends, This episode is a guided warm up that explores mindfulness, releasing physical tensions and connecting to your breath and voice. This warm up came out of our 3 last episodes, where we’ve been talking about what mindfulness, breathing and extraneous physical tensions have to do with the voice. Those episodes were the what and why, and this warm up explores the how: how can a practice that includes mindfulness, letting go of extraneous physical tension, and connecting to your breath he...
Jun 01, 2020•28 min
Hi Friends, How does excess physical tension in the body impact the voice? Or, in other words: What’s the relationship between the tension you have going on in your body and the sound of your voice? Your voice gets made in your body, thanks to your breath. How you’re using your body impacts how easily you’re breathing, which impacts how easily you’re speaking. Having some tension in the body is necessary for you to be upright and moving around in the world, but we’re talking about excess tension...
May 25, 2020•24 min
Hey Friends, This episode addresses the question: What is the link between voice coaching and mindfulness? Have you ever heard of that word-- mindfulness? We bet you have— mindfulness is pretty hot right now, and has been for awhile. Mindfulness, boiled down to its essence, is being in the here and now. There are many strategies and practices for becoming more mindful, and they are all grouped into this movement called “Mindfulness”. So why would that be relevant at all in voice and communicatio...
May 18, 2020•14 min
Hey friends, This podcast episode is dedicated to answering the question: Why do we talk about breathing in voice coaching? This question came up with a private client who came to Christine to work on strengthening his voice, because he often feels sore after a day of talking at work. The short answer? The breath is the power source for the voice. Without breath, there is no voice. This episode looks at: the relationship between breathing and speaking the difference between breathing normally ju...
May 11, 2020•22 min
Are you finding yourself on Zoom a lot lately? We are living through some interesting times. For the last few weeks, a third of the world’s population has been on lockdown as the world battles the Covid-19 Pandemic. For many of us, this has meant completely changing the way we regularly communicate both professionally and personally, because we can’t socialize with people outside of our homes. So we’re having to bridge the gap by communicating virtually— through platforms like Zoom, or Microsoft...
May 04, 2020•28 min
Hey Friends, In this episode, we explore deeper sociological issues around masculinity, and how trying to sound masculine might be impacting and even impeding your vocal expression. The pressures men face to have a deep, masculine-sounding voice are real, and often, our male clients, to get what they think is that sound, end up pressing their voices down in a way that makes their voices sound monotone, mumbly and trapped. This is a pressure that faces both men and women because a deeper, more ‘m...
Apr 27, 2020•29 min
Hey Friends, In this episode, we discuss the importance of creating regular rituals for yourself that help you feel more at ease generally, so that you can be more at ease in and ready for important communication events, like meetings, presentations, auditions, performances, etc. Rituals, whether physical, vocal, mental or some combination of all three, can help you start a communication event mindfully, because they allow you to take ownership over your own presence and how you are feeling befo...
Apr 20, 2020•24 min
Hi Friends, This episode is Part 3 of our 3-part series, 'Staying Present in Unprecedented Times,' designed to support you through this crazy new world of isolation and uncertainty as we navigate the health crisis that is Covid-19. In Part 1, we took you through a mindfulness practice called Orientation to help you connect to the present moment through your senses. In Part 2, we combined Orientation with a body scan to help you feel more embodied as you orient to the present moment. In...
Apr 13, 2020•12 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Hi Friends, This is part 2 of our 3 part series, 'Staying Present in Unprecedented Times', designed to support you through this crazy new world of isolation and uncertainty as we navigate the health crisis that is Covid-19. In Part 1, we took you through a mindfulness practice called Orientation to help you connect to the present moment through your senses. In this episode, we will practice orientation again, and then move into an oriented body scan so you can start to feel more connec...
Apr 06, 2020•10 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Hi Friends, There's no doubt about it-- these are some unprecedented times. At the time we are publishing this episode, the UK and much of Europe are on lockdown-- we don't know how long it's going to go on and how much our world is going to change by the time we get through the health crisis caused by Covid-19. If you're like us, you may be finding yourself particularly isolated and anxious these days. We created a three-part series to help you stay present and find some eas...
Mar 30, 2020•13 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Hey Friends, Are you looking to become more present in your communication, or just in general? In this episode, Christine talks with her dear friend and colleague Craig Deuchar about a body of work called Organic Intelligence(r), and why it can be a useful practice to help you become more present generally and in your communication. Christine started working with Craig on an OI practice almost two years ago, and it has completely transformed the way she approaches communication training. Organic...
Mar 23, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Hey Friends, This episode is a follow-up from "Listen Up", which came out a few weeks ago. In that episode, embodied living coach Nathalie-Joel Smith and Christine talked about the important role that listening plays in communication, and why it can be so hard to do. In this episode, Nathalie guides you through an embodied listening sequence so that you can actually practice listening, which you can use as a warm up and as a standalone practice in honing your ability to be more present...
Mar 16, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Hey Friends, Are you an actor who is working or who has an interest in working in Film/TV? If so, this episode is geared for you. In this episode, Christine interviews her dear friend and colleague Mark Street about the importance of actors applying their voice work to any work they do on camera. Mark is a filmmaker and Screen Acting Tutor at ArtsEd in London, and in his work he identifies several regular pitfalls that actors fall into vocally when working onscreen, including: dropping the voice...
Mar 09, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Hey Friends! This week's episode is of the future! Not really because we recorded back in January but the focus of our discussion and tips is voice and tech. We discuss the potential barriers of technology to effective communication and offer tips and tricks to turn it to your advantage. Whether you're submitting audition videos, live streaming meetings or events in your job, or---I don't know---podcasting at home, this is for you! We also cover working with tech in live situation...
Mar 04, 2020•29 min
Hey Friends! We're dipping our toes into a big conversation this week, talking about something that we've both experienced and are frequently asked about by family and friends...JAW TENSION! Whether it's situational, emotional, grinding teeth, alignment issues, athletic activity, the jaw is an interesting reflection of how we manage all kinds of stresses. This episode is a general conversation about where it comes from and dealing with the discomfort of jaw pain. It also offers a ...
Feb 26, 2020•34 min
This is an extra special episode because it features an interview with Christine’s husband, Emanuel Adam. Through his job, Emanuel regularly does radio and TV interviews with the likes of BBC, CNN and NPR, and he and Christine talk here about advice he has as someone who has had very little media training on how to approach these high-pressure interview situations. His advice is great for these specialized situations but also holds for any public speaking event. The big theme that comes up in th...
Jan 05, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this episode, Christine interviews her dear friend and colleague, Nathalie Joel-Smith, about the importance of embodied listening in communication. The importance of listening can sometimes get overlooked in communication coaching, both for actors and public speakers, even though it really is the vital component to connection within communication. Nathalie and Christine discuss what listening really is, why it can be hard to listen, and tools we can develop to listen better. Themes that come ...
Jan 05, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 7
This episode is a practical sequence to warm you up mentally, physically and vocally for social situations. Inspiration for this sequence came from an earlier episode, Episode 1 of Season 2, ‘Voice Work for Social Situations’ where we answered a question from a listener about why it can be hard to apply voice technique to social situations. This is a practical sequence that addresses the solutions we talked about in that episode. This sequence is for you if: you ever experience anxiety in social...
Jan 05, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 6
