Chat with the Assistant Trainer Series - David Hall

Speaking within the moment - The use of the voice in ATM and FI

Our voice serves many functions within a lesson and its qualities are as nuanced as those of touch. The possibilities are as endless as the sea of stories ..

Just as the actual movements of a lesson are of less importance than the awareness of how you experience it, the way you deliver the instructions of a lesson can be more influential than the instructions themselves.

What is the mechanism of that? How do you deliver a question or instruction in a way that invites deep engagement on the part of the listener?

Well, there’s a fairly obvious answer to that .. and it’s true .. the more deeply you engage with what you are saying the more the listener will be affected. It’s the difference between speaking from experience or hearsay.

The thing is that it’s really easy to practice and absolutely everyone can do it.

I initially trained as an actor and supported myself through my Alexander training by teaching voice. Over the years I’ve had many people consult me about their vocal problems. It usually related to public speaking and usually there was absolutely nothing wrong with their voice. It’s just that they thought their voice should have been more like the voice of someone else.

We don’t need to be like anyone else. Our unique life experience gives us the voice we need to make a difference.

Articulating our experience of a lesson as we do it is one way to develop a vocal quality that cultivates awareness of the felt sense of being in action.

We assist people to track changes within their sensory experience without correction. What happens when we do the same thing to the sensory experience of our voice?

As I said, the possibilities are endless .. and your story is still being written.

David Hall Bio

David Hall is a somatic adventurer who has been practicing the Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique for over thirty years. He is an Assistant Trainer, has a background in theatre and ran a Salsa dancing school for 15 years. He lives and practices in Sydneys Northern Beaches. His online group classes are attended by people from all over the world.