You’re an actor walking into high-stakes rooms: theatres, film and TV sets, casting rooms, press tours, TV interviews. You've reached a point in your career where the auditions and offers are coming in.

How you deliver really means something now - not only to you and your career but to the people who've invested in you - directors, producers, cast mates, family, friends.

But your audience aren't buying it yet. You're a pro - by this point you can feel when it lands and when it doesn't. Your moments of brilliance are too elusive for your liking.

Important people are watching when it lands and when it doesn't.

You walk out of a big casting knowing it's a no which is confirmed later by your agent and you have to explain what went wrong again.

Or you spend months preparing for a TV or film role and you aren't able to produce a performance that you can really stand behind in a medium that never forgets.

Or your delivery on stage gets a lukewarm response - great feedback at best but no real investment in your career. They say they’ll come back to you, and that’s the last you hear.

You're back to the never-ending, unreliable audition cycle.

This is costing you your reputation, roles of a lifetime, stable income and ultimately it's not the meaningful experience you thought your career as an artist would be by now.

No one else has your brand of artistry, you must know that by now, but you're struggling to express that in all the arenas and roles given to you.

To be memorable and be well known for your particular brand of artistry, you have to be able to move the people who matter most - from audience to director - every time you hit that stage, set or casting room.

That's your gig as an actor: you have to be able to move people in a particular direction.

And before you move them into action you have to move their hearts, minds and guts.

At this point, the gap between more of the same and actually moving your audiences in the direction you want isn't about your CV.

It's about your voice!

HI I'M CRAIG DEUCHAR

I'm a voice teacher, public speaking and executive communications coach, actor and former criminal defence lawyer.

The many hats that I've worn over the past 20+ years - from theatre to courtroom to organisational HQ - have me uniquely positioned to train you to master the art of moving your audience with your voice, presence and storytelling - from communicating with casting directors, all the way to when the lights go down or the camera starts rolling!

This is voicework.

The gold standard of being able to move an audience is held by actors. You have that to live up to. But you've likely known the potency of voicework since day one of drama school or on your travels as a working actor.

My work as a voice teacher is to reconnect you with the work that you may have experienced before, or at least heard from your peers as some of the deepest, most freeing and effective training you've had as an actor.

All of the work that I do centres around the voice. Voicework is often the thing that brings everything together and allows you to finally build a craft that goes beyond acting class where you begin to experience your artistry on your terms, in actual real life work scenarios and audience experiences.

I've been a teacher of the Meisner technique and have found that voicework fulfils all of the outcomes of acting technique but that's not even the half of it.

If you're ready for it - voicework goes way deeper and can take your artistry to a whole other level.

Move your audience beyond words

Some of the acting training I had was too intense for me and others. The experience of your work becomes different when you move away from overly analytical, intense emotion focused, heavy techniques and into being fully present, expressive, spontaneous and responsive in the here and now.

And where your connection to your work is through enjoyment and play.

That's voicework.

The outcome for a seasoned actor like you is to discover more of who you really are in your work, form your unique point of view and learn how to express that in multiple contexts and ultimately deeply move your audience in a specific direction.

Can you imagine being able to do that to the level of the greats you admire? What the response would be and what this ability would mean to you? Your audience? Your career? Your family?

There's an air of mystery around voicework because many actors experience it at drama school, love it, and then never experience it again. The voicework I teach is a clear and trainable craft that you will experience in the room and in your work.

You'll probably know that there are international associations for voice trainers, world conferences, scientific research, teacher certifications and more. Fitzmaurice Voicework®, a method I was trained in, is taught at Harvard and Yale!

I'm a voice, acting and performance pedagogy geek mixing many systems and techniques as well as creating my own, and I can help you create your own craft that works for you and very importantly, for your audience.

Skills, Craft, Artistry

Learn Skills ➡️ Build Craft ➡️ Awaken Artistry

 
You get a handle on these abilities by learning skills through practice which, when tailored to you and your acting, become a craft you call upon.

Your craft is essentially a set of tools you know how and when to use under the right circumstances to get the outcome you want.

With enough reps of your craft something quite different begins to happen. You'll get these moments that I like to call Lightning in a Bottle: those electric moments between actor and audience where the room spontaneously lights up and moves in ways no one could have even expected and you're all better off for it.

And much like lightning these moments can't be forced but under the right conditions they're inevitable.

That's when voicework becomes Speaking Artistry.

Who this is for

Actors who:

• Are regularly working, auditioning or creating their own work
• Know that their voice has way more potential with some guidance
• Want to discover their own artistic point of view in their work
• Will readily commit to learning new skills through ongoing practice and use them in real life
• Want to enjoy their experience of acting and their relationships with their audience more
• Want to find more meaning as an artist
• Are open and coachable and want to enjoy themselves while they're at it

Who this isn't for

Actors who:

• Have no stage or on screen experience
• Aren't interested in growth
• Have no interest in bringing their own flavour to their work
• Want quick fixes with no committed work and practice
• Don't have interest or time to learn to really connect with themselves and others
• Are resistant to coaching and other perspectives, and don't know how to enjoy themselves
• “It's just a job” actors

Speaking Artist Protégé Program

A three-month deep dive into building a solid voice craft tailored to your career in order to awaken your Speaking Artistry as you apply voicework to the multiple audiences you need to move as an actor:

• Casting Directors
• Directors
• Scene Partners
• Public audiences

One-to-one live sessions and async coaching to learn the art of moving your audience with your voice, presence and storytelling. We work across all of your auditions, roles and projects, not just one moment.

Best for: busy audition seasons, deep diving into a big role or developing your own work over time, where Speaking Artistry and its benefits need to become the default.

Rehearsal Room

A 2 to 4 week sprint to prepare your voice, presence and storytelling to move your audience at a single, specific upcoming event.

• Audition
• Live theatre job
• TV or Film Role
• Fast track development of your own work

One-to-one live sessions and asynchronous coaching to walk on fully prepared to move your audience with your voice in the direction you want.

Best for: one big artist career moment where you have a big audition, need coaching before or during rehearsals, support during a run or on set, or a shorter sprint as you develop your own work from page to stage.

"I was having big problems with nerves, and a friend suggested that I work with Craig before a big West End audition.

I was learning new things about my voice and left feeling so confident!

I got the job and I knew afterwards that I wanted to explore where my voice could go, and how to negotiate different areas that I’d never really tried before.

So I started up sessions again when I was in rehearsals, and my confidence grew - he’s great at ensuring you explore different ways of producing the voice you want, and in a way that’s supportive to the material.

Craig is brilliant at putting you at ease and sessions are so much fun! I am so pleased and my technique has improved so much!"

- Amanda Wilkin, West End Actor, London

"I was preparing for a lead role and I wanted to work with my voice from a somatic perspective and to explore the emotional and psychological barriers that create blockages in my voice and how I perform. I was looking for a tuned in way to find greater freedom, expression and potential in both my voice and my performance as a whole.

Working with Craig for a few months opened up a world of possibility for me as a singer, an actress and a human being.

I have found true magic in learning how to work ‘with’ my nervous system.

I have learned how to dig deep into a character, my voice and myself. It’s moved me beyond the crippling fear of ‘am I good enough’, and shown me exciting ways to work with emotions, fears and insecurities that are process driven and contribute to the connection, truth and aliveness of a performance.”

It feels like the key to unlocking my potential.

Craig is empathic and wise. He really listens and works with what’s in the room. I feel comfortable bringing my whole self and know I always experience a shift that feels profound. Thank you!"

- Nathalie, Actor and Singer, London

About my experience

Here's a deep dive into my experience, relevant for those considering applying for such close 1:1 support.

I'm a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, a method taught at Harvard and Yale. Through Destructuring/Restructuring®, Presence and Play, this work helps release held patterns of physical tension that inhibit the breath, voice, natural impulses and creativity, and trains the instincts to fully express their brilliance in response to the environment around you. I use this work and other voice approaches to train your voice and entire personhood to literally resonate and in turn vibe with your audience.

I was a teacher of the Meisner technique in one of the foremost Meisner training schools in London training under 3 different teachers including my main teacher who trained with Meisner himself.

I'm a certified Organic Intelligence® Coach. OI is a non-pathologising approach to nervous system stabilisation and growth that short-circuits survival and threat responses by connecting you to your immediate environment, so your mind and body can respond to the present moment with ease, enjoyment and skill. I use this work to deeply connect you with your presence while working in audience energy.

I worked as a criminal defence lawyer, appearing before judges with full public galleries, representing people on the worst day of their lives. The stakes don't get much higher than that! I learned early how to communicate effectively under the highest stakes, in high-conflict environments, with strict hierarchy, juggling many stakeholders, while staying true to my voice and the people I represented. On top of that, for 15+ years I've worked with leaders from some of the biggest organisations in the world - Google, KFC, Hilton, Virgin, Magic Circle law firms and more. I get the hardships of being in tough rooms!

I have a Masters degree in theatre performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Over the last 20 years I've performed to almost a million people in person, and to millions when you include live TV. I use all my personal experience of being on stage - from theatres to sets to courts - to help you master yours.

In my private practice I’ve trained Hollywood actors, leading West End actors, Royal Shakespeare Company members, Glastonbury performers, and what I’ve learned is this: We're all human despite the masks we've been required to wear.

Everyone has their challenges and we need support with this. I've learned that despite the huge challenges you face, the best artists want to be themselves more and make more of a meaningful impact on their audiences on the road to their career goals.

I'm big on creating an environment where you can be yourself and discover more about yourself as an artist, and I care about what's important to you.