The Woman's Voice

Why are so many women still not properly listened to? Why do they sometimes feel that they're less interesting than they are? Why do they often rush when they speak? Why do some women feel the pressure to sound like little girls? From one of the world's leading experts on the voice comes this call to arms for women to reclaim their voices. Using elements of experience and practice from her prolific career, Patsy Rodenburg examines these questions, and many more, to decipher what lies at the heart of female empowerment. From the age of four, Rodenburg knew that she found communication difficult. Her struggle with her own voice set her on the journey that led her to discover her vocation. She has spent her life re-finding and re-empowering voices, particularly the lost voices of women. Watching her highly intelligent working-class mother and grandmother ignored and often silenced gave her the insight to investigate why that was and how to help women overcome this centuries-old issue. With warmth and humour, Rodenburg interrogates Shakespeare's texts and his presentation of female characters; develops the notion of rhetoric in relation to the female voice; and applies concepts explored in her previous books, including The Three Circles of Energy. And, perhaps most crucially, through arguing that power and voice are directly linked to breath, Rodenburg makes the case that Western society's oppression of women has diminished their natural ability to breathe. Exploring the female voice through practical exercises and stories from the front line, as well as profoundly personal and formative experiences from her own life, Rodenburg defines the art of accessing the voice within and reclaiming the woman's right to speak.

Patsy Rodenburg OBE is a world expert on teaching voice, speech and presentation skills to individuals and companies across corporate and creative industries, as well as working with actors in theatre, film and television. Currently, she is Professor of Text and Poetry at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, UK, after serving as Head of Voice from 1981 until 2016. Over the past 40 years, she has been pioneering the only existing MA in Training Actors (Voice) and has sat on the board of directors for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2020, she established The Patsy Rodenburg Academy, which provides a safe and creative space for teachers, leaders, actors and all others to explore storytelling, while developing leadership, theatre and voice skills. She has coached some of the world's leading business figures, including CEOs and board-level executives at leading global institutions such as the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, The Royal British Legion, ASOS, Women Ahead, and Women in the Law UK, as well as Supreme Court judges and leading politicians.

Prologue Chapter 1 - The Beginnings Chapter 2 - Cages Chapter 3 - Brilliant Women Chapter 4 - Whole Presence, Whole Voice Chapter 5 - The Unquestionably Equal Woman Chapter 6 - Equal? Chapter 7 - Mother Margaret and Nanna Winifred Chapter 8 - Winnie Chapter 9 - My Father Chapter 10 - Education Chapter 11 - Vocation Chapter 12 - Voice and Rhetoric Chapter 13 - The Fading Memory of Women's Power Chapter 14 - John Chapter 15 - Scarls Chapter 16 - Focusing on Voice Chapter 17 - Handmaidens Chapter 18 - Breaking Free - Going Deeper - Demanding More Chapter 19 - 2006: Moving On - The Revolution of Thriving, not just Surviving Chapter 20 - Facing the Inevitable Chapter 21 - Where is your Voice? Chapter 22 - Masks of Survival Chapter 23 - Form and Content Epilogue Index