BVA ARCHIVE: Profiles
Stephanie Martin, BVA President 2005/2006
Was there a turning point in your career, when you knew you wanted to be connected to voice work?
For as long as I can remember I have been connected to voice, but initially this was in terms of speech & drama and performance voice. My finest hour was as a spear-carrier in Antigone in the school play!! Seriously, I spent many happy hours with a wonderful speech and drama teacher, Mrs. Hilda Taggart, taking all the Guildhall exams, and at one time I saw myself as an actor.
We often end up, in this life, doing for a living something rather different from what we had ambitions to do. If the cards had fallen differently, what would you be doing now? Is there anything you might have done, other than what you did?
As I said, I had long held ambitions to be an actor, but very cleverly others, who knew me better than I knew myself, encouraged me to spend a summer as an ASM in a weekly Repertory company. I quickly realised that the life was not for me and to be honest, I think my solo performance, which involved two lines, one of which was 'Oh Mr. Jones, he's not a bad man' did not leave the audience gasping for more! So with the stage door firmly shut I found Speech & Language Therapy and that has more than fulfilled my expectations, although I still find great performances inspiring and often think - 'I'd like to be up there'.
We know that the BVA has taken a great deal of your commitment and time. The newsletter in its current form owes that to you, you are currently President of the Association - not a feet-up job. How did you come to the BVA in the first place? What has it done for you?
I came to the BVA via the Voice Research Society and frankly the BVA has amply rewarded me for any time that I have devoted to it. It has given me wonderful professional links with people that I might never have met, it has informed my practice, introduced me to new topics, and I have been continually impressed by the professional generosity of BVA members, who are always ready to share skills and information.
How would you like the BVA to develop in the future? Is there a place for a voluntary organisation, with the minimum of paid assistance, in a globalising world? And the money behind them?
I would like to see more people taking advantage of BVA membership, perhaps broadening the discipline mix to include members from Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Hypnotherapy and Osteopathy, all professions that have connections to voice. Certainly I would not like to see the BVA identity eroded by creeping globalisation.
How has the cross-disciplinary approach of the BVA affected you and your work?
The multi-disciplinary nature of the BVA is a wonderful strength, providing a constant source of information from members working in different fields. In concrete terms, I can measure the influence of the BVA in my MA and PhD. I met Lyn Darnley on the train to Sevenoaks, coming back from a VRS meeting - we were both still wearing our name badges! We have worked and written on voice together and continue to do so. In fact it was Lyn who encouraged me to apply for the inaugural year of the Voice MA at Central. My PhD, which focused on the factors that affect the vocal performance and vocal effectiveness of newly qualified teachers and lecturers, was inspired by my interest in occupational voice disorders. This interest was fostered by my time on the Voice Care & Development for Teachers Working Party, initiated by the BVA under the leadership of Roz Comins.
If you could change the world, vocally speaking, how might that be?
I'd like to encourage people to talk to each other - Communication is the theme for my year as President - I think it is incredibly important that we keep talking, the practice of emailing a colleague in the same room seems quite bizarre to me!
Is voice the first thing you notice about anyone you meet?
I'm afraid that I'd have to say 'yes' to that; sometimes it's difficult for me to look beyond the voice!
Can you enjoy hearing voices without working out what is/might be wrong with them? In spite of hearing faults and dangers, even?
I have to admit that I probably always make a quick 'diagnosis' on first hearing a new voice, but with some voices the interest lies in the idiosyncratic nature of the vocal quality, so there are voices that do not have a 'perfect' vocal quality but do have interest and energy.
Do people get inhibited knowing that Speech and Language is your speciality, the way one might well do once one knows one's talking to a psychiatrist, or an Alexander Technique teacher?
I do occasionally find people will say 'Oh must mind my p's and q's' when they hear what I do, which is rather sad, as the profession celebrated its diamond anniversary in 2005, but often the response is one of interest, along the lines of 'So do you work with …?'
Are there things you wish you'd done or not done - with the clear-sighted vision of hindsight?
I think there are always things that you look back on and regret, things that we don't succeed in achieving, but I try and remember the following: Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow. I try to remember that, as long as you learn from them, mistakes are perfectly acceptable.
Do you ever get away from The Voice? If so, how?
Well during this year as President I have been immersed in Voice, but I do feel incredibly privileged to work in a field which is endlessly fascinating and for which I have a real passion. Through that I have gained a network of colleagues many of whom have become friends, so my personal and working life often overlap.
What would you most like to do? For pure enjoyment? Money no object…
I'd like to take a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express from London to Vladivostok - a mere snip at £4,999! I have a vision of sitting looking out over the Steppes and having a lovely time - probably too much Dr. Zhivago and not enough healthy realism like the potential to develop DVT!
You've lived and worked some time in Paris. Was that an interesting experience?
It was a wonderful experience; I was only working part-time, so I could indulge my interest in art, history, and the French language. I wish some of that notable French chic had rubbed off on me but I did acquire a lasting addiction to scarves and handbags!
