Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Do you avoid putting yourself forward for leadership opportunities because you’re worried you don’t speak ‘properly’?
Or have you been introduced to someone, only to see judgement flicker across their eyes when they hear your accent?
The way we speak is a really important part of who we are. It’s a vital part of our identity that links us to our home, our upbringing, our life experiences: it’s central to our ‘life story’. To be judged for the way we speak, is to be judged for who we are. Yet there’s so much more to clear and effective communication than our vowel sounds and sentence structures.
This two-hour workshop focuses on challenging the assumption that speaking well is dependent upon being able to speak with a particular accent or syntax.
During the session, you will be invited to examine the importance of first impressions in a professional context using some simple exercises often used by actors to analyse and develop characters.
As the session progresses, you will be given the opportunity to explore some of the key skills required to communicate effectively so that you can develop confidence in your ability to take control over the way you present yourself and the way others ‘hear’ you.
Emma Heron is a theatre maker, writer and educator based in Liverpool, England. Originally trained as an actor at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Emma studied Text and Performance at Masters level at RADA and Kings College, joining Edge Hill University as a Senior Lecturer in Drama in 2006. In 2010, she co-founded Theatr Gadair Ddu, a Welsh-English bilingual theatre company based in Liverpool and Rhuthun. Cadair Ddu creates theatre focused on exploring the narratives and experiences of traditionally underrepresented communities in the Welsh diaspora.
Throughout her career, Emma has developed her acting and directing work in parallel with her work as an educator, maintaining a strong commitment to using theatre skills and techniques as tools of empowerment for education and training. A member of the Pankhurst Centre’s Heritage Committee since 2018, until the pandemic Emma was also Artistic Director of Mrs Pankhurst’s Players, Edge Hill University’s feminist theatre collective for female, male and gender non-binary students and recent graduates. In 2019, Emma’s work with Mrs Pankhurst’s Players was presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Ann.
Currently, alongside her work for #WECAN, Emma is researching female histories in the Liverpool Welsh community for the Daughters of Gwenfrewi project, part of Theatr Gadadir Ddu’s Breaking the Stone series, created to explore previously hidden histories of groups often marginalised from the Liverpool Welsh community.
