Product details
- ISBN 9781847943378
- Weight: 140g
- Dimensions: 128 x 196mm
- Publication Date: 01 May 2025
- Publisher: Cornerstone
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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How the world’s best actors communicate with gravitas – and how you can, too.
‘The theatre stars’ voice guru’ Daily Mail
Acting is all about charisma. Whether you’re an A-list star or an extra, when you’re on stage you need to perform in a way that makes your audience listen.
That stage presence is something we can all learn from. Every time you speak up in a meeting, recount an anecdote, or tell a joke, it’s essential to communicate with gravitas.
Jeannette Nelson knows a thing or two about gravitas. As Head of Voice at the National Theatre, she has spent three decades working with the world’s leading actors – from Al Pacino to Benedict Cumberbatch to Juliette Binoche – teaching them to speak clearly and move confidently.
Now, Nelson pulls back the curtain on the tricks that professional performers use to own the room. Starting with clear speech and good posture, before moving on to the art of rhetoric and overcoming stage fright, she outlines a holistic three-stage method to communicating with authority, authenticity and eloquence. Throughout, she peppers the book with stories of how world-renowned actors learnt to make themselves heard – and how you can, too.
The result is a fascinating and eminently practical guide to the art of performance. If all the world’s a stage, then this book will turn you into its lead actor.
Jeannette Nelson is one of the world’s leading voice coaches. In the course of over a decade as Head of Voice at the National Theatre, she was responsible for ensuring that everyone who took the stage at Britain’s leading theatre was communicating clearly and charismatically. Along the way, she worked with some of the greatest actors of our time – from Al Pacino to Benedict Cumberbatch to Juliette Binoche – on some of their most notable roles across stage, film and TV. Nelson's first book, The Voice Exercise Book (2015), has become the go-to guide for actors looking for exercises to help improve their vocal clarity.
'Jeannette's knowledge is astonishing and her approach so gentle and effective' Derren Brown
