Lorraine Haven

My work with Paul has been phenomenal. I knew I could read fluently, but now I realise there is so much more to do, to be able to ‘communicate’ well, especially as a celebrant, but also for life in general. I understand that by working on my voice and investing time and effort, I can both improve and prolong it. I think I took my voice for granted… it’s unseen, it just happens, but actually, it deserves a whole lot more attention.

I found it quite profound to have Paul suggest the various intonations possible within a piece of prose, the ‘wistful remembering’, the ‘remember we mentioned that before’, the amusing, the sad, the not-quite-so-sad …. I realised how much just gets processed in the brain without any real consideration or appreciation, it just happens and again, is taken for granted. Just as I now look for symbolism in everything, so too do I listen with more awareness to people speaking, rather than just a fleeting, unconscious, ‘I like that voice’ or ‘I don’t like that voice’. I now stop and truly listen.

I also understand a little more about the art and craft of acting, and I realise once again, how something that can appear so effortless is really incredibly thought-through. I have definitely experienced a shift within my own appreciation of acting and speaking.

Thank you, Paul.