Freeing the Natural Voice with Kristin Linklater - a podcast by Mark McGuinness

This week's guest on the 21st Century Creative Podcast is Kristin Linklater, the world-renowned teacher of voice work for actors and speakers, and the author of Freeing the Natural Voice and Freeing Shakespeare's Voice.









I recorded this interview at Kristin's Linklater Voice Centre, in her native Orkney, at the end of a week-long course on speaking Shakespearean verse. As a student of Kristin's I have personally benefitted greatly from her teaching, and I'm delighted to be able to share her work with you in this interview.



Kristin has some very insightful things to say about creativity, authenticity and communication, based on a lifetime spent teaching voice work - so you’ll find it helpful whether you're an actor or you do any kind of public speaking.



And as we discover in the conversation, working on your voice can have a very interesting and positive effect on your creativity, outside of the realm of performance!



If you want to develop an authentic connection to your own voice - whether for professional performance, creativity or personal development - I highly recommend Kristin's courses. I've taken two courses at the Linklater Voice Centre and it was absolutely worth the effort of travelling to Orkney. As you can see from the photos, it's a magical setting in which to do some powerful inner and outer work.















Take Kristin's Creative Challenge (and win a copy of Freeing the Natural Voice)



Every week, at the end of the show, I ask my guest to set you a Creative Challenge - something practical you can do that will help you put the ideas from the show into action.



Here's how you can take part - and maybe win the prize of a copy of Kristin's book Freeing the Natural Voice.



1. Listen to the interview part of the show, either in the player above or on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform.



2. There are two versions of Kristin's challenge - you can do either (or both) if you want to enter the draw for the books.



First version: Go out to the countryside or if you’re in the city, to a big park, so that you’re alone or at least anonymous.



And in a loud voice, shout firstly to sky: "Haaaaaaah!"



Then to the horizon: "Heyyyyy!!"



Then down to the ground: "Hoooo!"



And remember those different sounds, they are significant.





Second version: choose a poem that has some personal relevance to you, and learn it by heart, letting the images of the poem flow into you and the feelings it arouses.



Then read the poem out loud to two or three friends.



4. Once the challenge has finished, I will pick 3 winners at random from the comments, who will receive the prize of a copy of Freeing the Natural Voice.



5. Over the weekend I will send a bonus recording with my feedback on your comments and what we can all learn from the challenge. I'll be looking through the comments for common patterns, whether that's ways a lot of you get stuck, or great solutions you're finding to the challenge. I'll also be sharing reflections and advice from my own experience of public speaking, reading my poems, and working with Kristin.



6. As usual the feedback recording will NOT be released on iTunes or anywhere else the show is syndicated. It will only be available via the 21st Century Creative mailing list - click here to join the list (and get a free Creative Career course).



One last thing...



If you're enjoying the show it would be a huge help to me if you would take a moment to subscribe to The 21st Century Creative in iTunes.



And if you'd like to leave a brief review in iTunes, that would be even more helpful.

Further episodes of The 21st Century Creative

Further podcasts by Mark McGuinness

Website of Mark McGuinness