The Origin of Speak Well With Willpower
Founder Matthew Collins has an MA in Voice Studies, a background in TV, and ten years’ teaching experience in HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
He's loved teaching voice skills to prisoners – in sessions which include vocal exercises on short Shakespearean texts.
This work exposes participants to rich, formal language; encourages the articulation of muscular speech; and encourages self-reflection.
The work also introduces the principles of rhetoric and Matthew's always made his prison starting point a line by Elizabethan dramatist, Thomas Kyd: ‘Where words prevail not, violence prevails…’
Having witnessed the benefits of voicework in Wormwood Scrubs, Matthew wants to take voice classes into other prisons – as well as into:
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Schools in disadvantaged areas
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Schools whose budgets for extracurricular activities have been eroded by increased energy costs
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Organisations for Former Military Personnel
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Communities (such as refugee welfare organisations) where English public speaking skills and familiarity with formal language may be lacking.