What changes when you experience speaking as a right you can exercise?
The Right to Speak, by Patsy Rodenburg.
What the book addresses
Rodenburg combines an account of the conditions that affect speaking with practical vocal work. The book considers habitual impediments, confident communication and the relationship between speaking and listening.
How to read it
Keep the social and personal context of a voice connected to its practical development. A request to be louder may leave the actual difficulty unnamed. A person may need clearer coordination, a more specific listener, time to formulate the thought or a different relationship to the room. The book provides a framework for investigating such questions.
An original rehearsal investigation
Prepare a brief statement you have a real reason to communicate. Identify the listener and the essential thought. Speak it comfortably, then ask what was received. Work on one specific obstacle to communication at a time. The purpose is a clearer exchange, not an audition for an idealized confident personality.
Connections and distinctions
The Actor Speaks brings Rodenburg’s work into the actor’s wider professional demands. Speaking Shakespeare concentrates on a particular body of language. The practical connection extends to speaking and leadership as well as acting.
This is an original JBAS reading guide with an attributed overview and study questions. Read the complete book for the author's developed argument and exercise instructions.
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