My Lack of Confidence About Self Promotion
I know that I’ve written about my shyness with regards to spreading the word about the workshop, but
I realise it may have made me look like I lack confidence about what I’m actually delivering. I really don’t.
I have a real wariness of seeming cocky but I do know that I know my stuff. You can trust me to work with you, your voice and your confidence to take up space.
To counter any apparent insecurity about my ability to deliver the “goods” in this workshop I’ve written this blog. There’s a short one and then a longer one…
Why trust me to empower your voice?
To see my official training and qualifications go to this page –
My Initial Training As an Actor
I started out as an actress. I trained for 3 years as Queen Mary and Westfield, (Uni of London), and a 1/4 of my degree for the first 2 years was at Central School of Speech and Drama. We studied voice and movement and acting at what was, at the time, one of the best places to study acting in the
country if not in the world.
Then I went to Birmingham School of Acting (then Birmingham School of Speech and Drama or BSA, and now the acting school at Birmingham Conservatoire). I studied acting and worked with some great voice teachers there too.
Phenomenal further training as an actor
After I finished my formal studying of acting I continuously studied acting whilst putting myself out there to get acting work. The most life changing acting courses I took were at The Actors Centre which was an incredible hub of professional actors all honing our craft.
I studied so many different subjects but the things that stuck with me most were, Voice with Barbara Houseman, (https://barbarahouseman.com/) Clowning with Peta Lily (https://www.petalily.com/courses.html) and Cabaret with Paul L Martin (https://thecabaretgeek.com/).
All of these courses changed the direction of my life and I use things I learned there all of the time.
In my 20s I also studied singing with Mark Meylan and I was dedicated to learning how to make my voice strong and flexible enough to work in musical theatre. Mark’s influence was probably the strongest of all.
My Work As An Actor
I did some work in theatre in this time. I played a Dr (and clarinet) in a new musical at the Shaw Theatre, and a Dr in a Chekhov play in North London. (Maybe they knew about my handwriting, hence casting me as a Dr). I was also part two tours to schools, one in which I had to cry for about 50 minutes and then immediately snap into a workshop where I shared how long alcohol stays in your system.
I didn’t believe I was good enough to get work. I also used to sit in the auditions and think how the others were prettier or thinner than I was.
I wish I knew then what I know now, which is that how you look is always an advantage if you are what they’re looking for and there’s nothing much you can do about it. And also that I was good in my own way and could get better in other areas that I wasn’t as good.
I wish I’d known then that being myself was the biggest asset I had. It’s what I teach people now. (Oscar Wilde quote as an image – I think I have it already on my website)
Running Workshops
When I was about 24 I started running workshops in schools for a company who taught study skills. We went in and presented for about 5 hours. Usually to one class, all day. Secondary school kids are not used to being with one teacher for 5 hours.
More often than not I was teaching the C/D borderline kids. At this time schools were judged on the proportion of kids who achieved C or above grades so these kids really affected the schools’ results.1
Learning How to Engage a Challenging Audience
It was when running these workshops that I really learned how to engage an audience. I learned that, for me to be engaging I had to be engaged. I really buzz from connecting with an audience. I watched several of my colleagues and some presented more of a one person comic show but I was much more interested in ensuring the students I was teaching really understood what I was trying to share.
Yes, I was very high energy. I know I seem high energy now but I was so much more hyper then. But my memory was so much better then.2
The Change to Music
When I was living in a flat that I had sublet from one of my colleagues I worked my way through The Artist’s Way –https://juliacameronlive.com/
I realised my heart lies with music and I wanted to live on my own and not in a flat share. So I moved back to Birmingham, carried on running workshops and started to make music. I tried to make jazz which wasn’t the best fit but I learned a lot in the process and I did find my place singing Musical Theatre and Rock/Pop covers.
Singing Teacher
Then someone needed a singing teacher and I was convinced to do the job. That was in 2005 I think.
When I started I didn’t have imposter syndrome. I had a lack of knowledge. And I set about correcting that with a fervour.
I studied so much. You can see the training I did on the page with the link but it’s really extensive. – https://rebeccaschwarz.co.uk/rebecca-schwarz-singing-teacher/#training-and-qualifications
In 2009 I had my first kid and from then on I still went on courses but they tended to be residential courses planned around when my kids’ dad was able to look after the kids.
I also did singing exams including an ALCM in teaching singing, Grade 8 in Classical singing (Distinction), LLCM in Musical Theatre, PG Diploma (distinction) in Voice Pedagogy and a Piano
Grade 5 that almost killed me.
I joined the Education Working party for the British Voice Association, (BVA), https://britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/ and worked with some amazing people putting on amazing events. I even did a stint as a Director of the BVA.
Throughout this time I taught singing and worked with lots of professionals who have done lots of fancy pants things and lots of people who felt they had no right at all to sing. I loved working with all of them but felt that I was missing some tools.
I am so geeky about voice. I am possibly even more geeky in my obsession about healing, learning and how to individuate teaching and learning.
Studying Healing to Help Other People
I felt I needed to find the right words to help people so I studied NLP, hypnotherapy and Timeline Therapy. I trained as a Practitioner in person and completed an online course to a Master Practitioner Level.
I’ve studied Somatic Experiencing, trained as a Vocal Massage Therapist as well as online courses in trauma safe working practices and I even did the course that so many of us studied during lock down about being a mental health practitioner.
The Safe Space
None of these things on their own impacted my ability to create a safe space as much as my upbringing and the therapy that I’ve done with 2 amazing healers.
My ability to create a safe space is often commented on by people. This review by Cassie on my google page (I can’t work out how to do the link Amy) makes particular mention to this safe space as do many other reviews I’ve received in my singing teacher work.
“Rebecca creates such a safe, supportive, and non judgmental space which has allowed me to explore and release long-standing fears around expressing myself and being heard. It’s not just about technique. Rebecca has a deep intuition for helping you get to the core of what holds you back, and she has helped me cultivate genuine joy and appreciation for my own unique voice.” Cassandra Mendez, N. Carolina, USA
Where I Am Now As a Voice Practitioner
When I started teaching I was looking for methods that gave me answers. The longer I have worked as a voice teacher the more I am using my expectations as prompts and jumping off points for the person in front of me to respond and find their own answers.
I have reached a point where I no longer think I have the answers but I have so many questions that together we will reach the answer for today.
I love my work and it would be amazing if you do choose to trust me with your journey with your voice.
**And I used to set myself the challenge to learn all of their names by lunchtime if not before. I find it amazing that I used to be able to remember all of those names whereas now I can barely get my kids’ names right. Hey ho, age brings many benefits but memory skills is not one that it brings to me.
- this was before the current number system used for GCSEs. ↩︎
- And I used to set myself the challenge to learn all of their names by lunchtime if not before. I find it amazing that I used to be able to remember all of those names whereas now I can barely get my kids’ names right. Hey ho, age brings many benefits but memory skills is not one that it brings to me. ↩︎
The next Own Your Spoken Voice Workshop is on 1 February in Alvechurch.
For more information about the workshop see here-
https://ownyourspokenvoice.com/what-happens-in-the-workshop-own-your-spoken-voice
To book a place –
https://bookingin.as.me/schedule/694035c5/?appointmentTypeIds[]=36058202