Description
You have your lines off book. You know them inside out. Then you walk into the room, or press record on
the self-tape, and your mouth goes dry, your breath sits high in your chest, your first line shakes and the
voice that comes out is nothing like the one you had at home. Most of us are told to ‘just breathe’ or ‘ground
yourself’, which is rarely much use in the moment. The good news is that there is nothing mysterious going
on. It is your nervous system doing exactly what it evolved to do, and it responds very well to being trained.
As well as being a voice coach, Michael is a certified Autogenic Therapist. Autogenic Training is an evidence-
based relaxation technique used in clinical settings, and it turns out to be remarkably practical for
performers.
The session begins with what is really happening to the body under pressure: adrenaline, breath, saliva, jaw
and tongue tension, and why each of these changes the sound of your voice. From there we work on tools
you can actually use in a corridor, in a waiting room, in front of a panel or alone with a camera. You’ll try
your own material under gentle, friendly pressure so that the techniques are tested rather than theoretical,
and you’ll learn to recognise your own particular pattern of tension, since no two performers respond the
same way. Bring a short speech or piece of text you know well.
You’ll leave with a personal toolkit of quick, discreet techniques, a longer-term practice you can build into
your week, and a much clearer understanding of why your voice does what it does when it matters most.
Michael Hill’s work here:
