Voice Box

Dr. Stephanie Martin is a speech & language therapist, whose career has combined clinical practice, research, lecturing and writing. Her professional focus of interest is in occupational voice disorders. She holds an MA in voice studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama (London). Her doctoral research explored factors, which have an impact on the vocal performance and vocal effectiveness of newly qualified teachers and lecturers. Stephanie is a Past-President of the British Voice Association and in 2005 she was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists for research and teaching. Stephanie holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer post in the School of Allied Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia. She is currently engaged in two areas of research; a study into the effectiveness of clinical training and readiness to practice of newly qualified clinicians and a UK wide epidemiological study of voice disorders. Previous publications include Working with Voice Disorders, (Speechmark, 2000), which began a writing partnership, with Myra Lockhart, a partnership which continued with the publication of the VIP: the Voice Impact Profile, (Speechmark, 2005). Their most recent collaboration is a second edition of Working with Voice Disorders to be published in 2013. Lyn Darnley is Head of Text, Voice & Artist Development at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she has worked since 1992. She worked initially in the theatre as an actor, broadcaster and television presenter. She holds qualifications in Speech and Drama from the University of South Africa and Trinity College, London, and also has an M.Phil from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from the University of London. Before joining the RSC she was Head of Voice at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, a post she held for 12 years. During this time she worked on both the Community Arts Course and the Classical Theatre Course. Her work at the RSC includes voice and text support in rehearsal and maintenance of vocal aspects of productions and the co-ordination of the Company's Artist Development Programme. She has a passionate interest in actor training and has served as external examiner on several courses. Her writing includes a radio series on the development of children's language, articles for journals, and a practical manual on microphone technique. She has led workshops for theatre groups, Actors' Centres, Universities and drama schools. Stephanie and Lyn have been colleagues and friends for many years. They have previously collaborated on The Voice Sourcebook (1992) and The Teaching Voice (1996), now in its second edition (Wiley-Blackwell 2004) which addresses voice use in the classroom. The Voice Box is their most recent writing partnership.