Sue Elliot-Nichols

OUR VOICES TELL OUR STORY

As a voice actor and writer I have a particular interest in peoples authentic and particular voice. A voice tells the story of our lives, the love, the struggles, the joy and achievements. I fell in love with my husband’s voice before I even knew him. I interviewed him on the street for BBC in Cardiff, went back to the office and played his voice over and over and over again. I later found out that as a child he lived with a significant stammer - he got no help or support and definitely no sympathy in those days. But you know what? He has the most beautiful voice and the hesitation he sometimes still has adds to it. We wouldn’t be together 35 years later if it wasn’t for that voice.

OUR VOICES TELL OUR STORY

As a voice actor and writer I have a particular interest in peoples authentic and particular voice. A voice tells the story of our lives, the love, the struggles, the joy and achievements. I fell in love with my husband’s voice before I even knew him. I interviewed him on the street for BBC in Cardiff, went back to the office and played his voice over and over and over again. I later found out that as a child he lived with a significant stammer - he got no help or support and definitely no sympathy in those days. But you know what? He has the most beautiful voice and the hesitation he sometimes still has adds to it. We wouldn’t be together 35 years later if it wasn’t for that voice.

Our voices are us.

Glorious inventive imaginative street slang, funny, colourful,  expressive.  The wonderful language of kids and teenagers that has evolved in our diverse towns and cities. Our different voices shape who we are, the accents, our family language, the laugh in a voice, the places people pause to gather their thoughts, or a catch in a voice when talking about something emotional or difficult, beautiful imperfections that make us who we are. I love the work of Speech Bubbles for exactly that reason - rather than teach children to “speak properly” this brilliant team help children discover the joy in speaking in their own voices, their own words, or sometimes in actions instead. I have been fortunate enough to run some speech bubbles workshops and have seen for myself the delight and confidence as it grows and blossoms over the weeks by playing “silly” (not silly) games and acting out the children’s stories - overcoming struggles and speaking or communicating in their own way and being quite rightly praised for that. The wild and wonderful and quietly simple stories that these children get the opportunity to tell in their own way.

As a writer we are encouraged to speak in our own voices, our own unique take on the world, to write as a person not an essay writer or AI assisted document. This for me is Speech Bubbles super power, the cherry on the cake, your own voice is a wonderful thing.

Sue Elliot-Nicholls

Horrid Henry (Voice of Moody Margeret), Tracey Ullman Show, Call the Midwife, Casualty etc.