MCs and Celebrants
In my mind, MC stands for Master Communicator. I’ve known one for a few years. And there’s no hammer about this MC. He’s a warm, friendly, gentle soul. Let’s call him Mr W – he’d probably blush if I shared his name.
Guess what! Mr W is my dentist! Well, not just mine. That’s the point! He’s the most popular dental practitioner where he works. Mr W has a waiting list as long as his arm, and the practice is forever trying to get some of his patients to swap to a less-busy dentist. But, nearly all his patients prefer to be just that – patient – and wait their turn rather than go to the front of somebody else’s queue.
There are other dentists in that practice who are as qualified and skilful as Mr W, but the way in which he cares about and relates to the people he treats is the difference that draws people towards him.
It’s like that with celebrants. There are many who are formulaic, and who know the rules and regulations backwards, but far fewer who are able to go beyond that. Here are some of Mr W’s skills which could make him a fabulous celebrant. He’s genuinely interested in people, and is an excellent listener: he cares. He’s gentle, and has a warmth and magnetism about him that causes people to look forward to spending time with him – despite being a dentist.
Mr W works one to one – a celebrant often works one to one in relation to funerals, and two to one with weddings, vow renewals and other ceremonies. I’ve just had a laugh at the thought of my dentist trying to work with 100 people at once… maybe he could hypnotise them! But the parallels between Mr W and his patient, and a gathering of people at a ceremony, aren’t stretched quite as far as you might think.
A dentist always works one at a time. And it’s a really good idea for a celebrant to think of their ‘audience’ not as chunk of people, but as a collection of individuals, and to speak to them in that way – in the singular rather than plural. It’s better not to say ‘Good afternoon, everybody’, but ‘Good afternoon’. And rather than ‘It’s marvelous to see you all here’, you could try ‘It’s marvelous to see you here’. That principle can be applied to everything you might normally speak plurally. Everyone wants to feel welcome, valued and special. Wouldn’t it be great if at the end of a ceremony, each person there had the feeling of ‘I know there are lots of us here, but I have the sense that the celebrant was speaking especially to me. They remind me a bit of my dentist’. Well, maybe not the bit about the dentist!
In Mr W’s case his warmth and caring are completely natural, enhanced by a few years in the job. Perhaps for some people that kind of interaction is a bridge too far (a dental reference there!). But for many, it’s more a matter of them having those qualities, and just needing some help to liberate or awaken them: and perhaps being given the guidance and permission to use them.
And that’s where I come in.
Here’s a little flavour of my reviews:
Paul’s knowledge and professionalism are excellent- he patiently guides, giving feedback at every stage, and he does so with a sense of fun. We laughed a lot, which helped to settle my nerves; but we also explored the effects that emotion has on the voice. As a Funeral Celebrant, there are many times when tears and emotion can affect my voice. Paul gently taught me how to harness that emotion to actually improve my performance, rather than detracting from it.
Paul is quite simply a great coach, and a thoroughly nice guy! GH
You may have written a beautifully crafted piece or you might have written something you feel is quite average. You read it to Paul and he helps you to transport it into a living memory…there is a chemical reaction that happens when he highlights to you that those words need to come from your heart space as if they were new thoughts to you. KM
I’m happy to chat about what I teach by phone or email.
paulyrobinson@outlook.com 07469 965 199 Paul Robinson Voice Coaching – Voice Coaching