The Elocution Room

30/09/2026

LET’S GET DOWN INTO THE WEEDS

You’re the one everyone rings.
You organise it, remember it, sort it, fix it and keep everything moving.

Then suddenly you have a little more time and find yourself thinking:

“So, what do I actually want to do now?”

A few clients have asked me for something around this, so I’ve created a six week, one to one course for people who have spent years being busy, responsible and needed by others and are now ready to put a little more them back into their lives.

Over six one hour sessions, we’ll explore:
What interests me now?
What do I enjoy?
What would I like more of?
What could I stop doing?
What would I like to try?
What could the next chapter look like?

We’ll use conversation, creative exercises, a little homework and practical experiments to turn some of those thoughts into action.

It feels very at home at The Elocution Room, because finding your voice also means knowing what you think, what you want and having the confidence to express it.

Six weeks. One hour a week. One to one.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, get in touch. I’d love to tell you more.

Let’s get down into the weeds and see what we find.

Esther Doorly
The Elocution Room
083 8888397
elocutionroom.com

28/09/2026

Knowing your place.

There is an old phrase that has rather fallen out of fashion.

It can sound terribly old fashioned, yet there is something worth rescuing from it when we talk about communication.

A lot of what people call professional polish is actually inherited knowledge.

Someone has gone before you.
A parent has explained how to behave around senior people.
A sibling has told you when you are being too familiar.
A relative has explained how to receive a gift graciously.
A mentor has shown you when to challenge your manager and when to listen.
Someone has taught you how to support a team when it matters.

I see this at The Elocution Room.
People come to me with fantastic degrees, brilliant experience and impressive jobs.

They may be the first person in their family to go to university and the first to enter a corporate environment.

They have earned their place.
What they haven't necessarily had is someone to explain the unwritten rules.

When to speak.
When to listen.
How to disagree.
How to show respect.
How to be confident without taking over.
How to read a room.
These things can be learned.

Sometimes communication coaching is simply giving someone the knowledge that another person had the good fortune to inherit.

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Esther Doorly M.Ed. BA(Hons) PGCE LLAM LGSM
083 8888397
www.elocutionroom.com

28/09/2026

You can get the new job before you get rid of the communication habits that belonged to the old one.

New manager. New team. Completely different environment.

Yet you still find yourself rehearsing what you are going to say. Softening opinions. Filling every pause. Explaining yourself before anyone has asked you to.

That makes sense. If you spent years working around a difficult boss or difficult colleagues, you became skilled at reading the room and avoiding conflict. Those habits served you there.

They can cost you here.

The cost shows up in how you are perceived. You may know exactly what you are talking about, but constant qualifying and a tone that waits to be challenged make your authority harder to see.

Try this over your next five meetings.
Pause before you answer. Two seconds. You do not have to fill every silence.
Drop the unnecessary apology. Instead of "Sorry, I might be wrong, but..." try "I see it differently."

Make one point clearly. Say what you mean, give your reason, stop. A good point does not need three minutes of explanation.

Then notice what happens. Does the room grow uncomfortable? Do people push back? Or do you find the old rules no longer apply?

Sometimes the new environment changed long before our communication caught up with it.

The Elocution Room Offers Classes in Voice and Pronunciation, Diction, Accent Enhancement, Public Speaking, Correction of Speech Faults and Professional Writing Services including Copyediting and Proofreading. Zoom Classes Available.

21/09/2026

Monday vocal warm up. Get those organs ready for the week.
Your voice is a physical instrument. Before you ask it to carry a presentation, lead a meeting or navigate a difficult conversation, give it a little preparation.
A few minutes of gentle humming, lip trills, breath work and articulation exercises can help you become more aware of how your voice is working.
The aim isn't to manufacture a different voice. It's to develop greater control over the one you already have.
Start the week with a little vocal attention.
Your voice has work to do.

17/09/2026

What are managers looking for when they consider someone for promotion?

It is a question I am exploring through formal interviews with managers as part of my research for The Elocution Room.
I am interested in understanding the qualities they value when assessing professionals for greater responsibility.
How important is clear and concise communication?
What makes someone communicate with authority?
How do managers assess a person's ability to express ideas, offer recommendations and contribute to important discussions?
What role do listening, judgement and interpersonal skills play?
These conversations are helping me explore the communication demands of professional progression and the skills people can develop as their careers evolve.
They also inform my one-to-one work at The Elocution Room, where I help professionals develop their voice and communication in response to their individual goals.
This may include articulation, pronunciation, projection, pace, concision, confidence and professional presence.
Every client brings a different professional context, a different set of challenges and a different story. Understanding the purpose behind the work is an essential part of the process.
I am looking forward to sharing some of the insights emerging from my conversations with managers.

What do you value most when someone is ready to take the next step in their career?

16/09/2026

Are you a better host or a better guest?
I think I prefer being a guest, although I do love hosting.
I can think of people who are brilliant hosts, others who are brilliant guests and a very small number who are genuinely brilliant at both.
Being a good host takes work. Planning, preparation, timing, knowing your guests, noticing the little things and somehow making all of it look completely effortless.
A good guest has a different set of skills. Knowing what to bring, how to make conversation, when to help, when to stop talking and, most importantly, when to leave.
Then there is the bad host who makes you feel you have interrupted their evening.
And the bad guest who appears to have booked a three day stay.
As the saying goes:
“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.”
Although some guests can really put that theory to the test.
So tell me…
Are you a better host or a better guest?
And what do you think makes someone brilliant at either?

My hosting persona is an edgier version of Manuel from Fawlty Towers. Invite me to yours, however, and I am a nonstop delight, writes Polly Hudson

16/09/2026

“What did you say?”
If you hear that sentence more often than you would like, your voice may be getting in the way of your expertise.
Perhaps you speak too quickly.
Perhaps you are quiet at the end of a sentence.
Perhaps your pronunciation makes you less easy to understand than you would like.
Perhaps you have plenty to say in a meeting but find yourself holding back.
Or perhaps you are preparing for an important interview or presentation and want your voice to work harder for you.
This is the work I do at The Elocution Room.
One to one.
Because your voice is individual.
I look at how you speak, what is happening mechanically and, importantly, why you want to change it.
We might work on articulation, pronunciation, projection, pace, intonation, pausing, vocal variety or accent softening.
Sometimes the answer is as simple as learning to slow down.
Sometimes it is about finding more resonance in the voice.
Sometimes it is about making yourself heard.
Sometimes it is about feeling less self conscious when you speak.
There is no standard Elocution Room voice.
There is your voice, your circumstances and what you need it to do.
If you have been thinking about your voice for a while, perhaps it is time to do something about it.
The Elocution Room
One to one voice coaching in Blackrock, Dublin and online.
Communicate with Confidence.

15/09/2026

Ever wondered what it’s like to train at drama school or work behind the scenes in theatre?

This October half term, join us at for a FREE two-day theatre residency for young people aged 14–19. Across two days, you’ll get the chance to explore both the performance and production sides of theatre, working with industry professionals.

- Performance Day: Explore acting, movement and voice.
- Backstage Day: Discover set, costume, lighting and sound design.

📅 22 and 23 October

Spaces are limited. To book your place and find out more, visit our website: https://www.cssd.ac.uk/outreach/regional-collaboration