Although it wasn't a Poetry Society event as such, a workshop entitled "The Poet's Voice" was held on 11 April which several members and former members attended - all women. The speaker was Dorothy Daniels whose career has been in voice training - with an impressive list of organisations and individuals she has worked with to help people become more effective and confident public speakers and performers. Those of us attending this recent workshop will unhesitatingly attest that Dorothy helped us too.
As well as reminding us of the mechanics of standing in front of an audience, making and sustaining contact, breathing correctly and so on, we benefitted from time spent reading our poems aloud as if at a public reading, but paying far more attention to modulation - the power, pace, pitch - of our delivery, noting where to emphasise words and phrases, where to pause, where to slow down or speed up and so on.
For me, personally, this was the best investment of time and money - in poetry terms - in a long time. A well-timed event, too, in view of the forthcoming Poetry Festival ... when most of those attending the workshop will be performing.
Expect some engaging performances!
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