Associates’ biographies

COACHES:

VOICE: TARA SHAW:

Tara trained at LAMDA, where she was a pupil of the distinguished Voice Teacher, Julia Wilson Dixon. She has had a rich and varied acting career. She premiered Debbie Horsfield’s RED DEVILS’ TRILOGY at the Liverpool Playhouse, and then starred in all three plays when they transferred to the National Theatre. She has also acted at Stratford and toured Holland in the role of Juliet and the UK in a music-theatre version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM that also the music of Purcell performed by four opera singers and three leading British Orchestras. Her TV work includes a lead role in CROSSROADS, and has appeared in A TOUCH OF FROST, DOWN TO EARTH, CROWN COURT, CONNIE, TALES OF SHERWOOD, and important plays by Frederick Raphael. Her film career includes THE ASSAM GARDEN with Deborah Kerr, THE LAST SEDUCTION 2 and CALL ME MISTER.

In her parallel career as a Voice Coach, she has worked on many films and teaches at the London Metropolitan University and RADA. She recently completed her MA in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

For Craft of Communication she was Voice Coach to the Managing Director (Europe) of Kurt Salmon Associates and senior managers at Barclays Bank, Unilever, JP Morgan and the University of Surrey.

ENHANCING TEAM PERFORMANCE: KEITH SILVESTER.

Keith graduated from University of Cambridge in 1978. He then trained as a community worker, working in Covent Garden and north-west London. He then trained as a professional counsellor and psychotherapist at the Institute of Psychosynthesis in London, where he continued to work as a clinical supervisor and a group training leader. In 1986 he set up a freelance training consultancy called ‘Dialogue’ specialising in team-building and conflict issues, and holds an MSc in Training from Leicester University. For nearly ten years he was Head of the Student Counselling & Advisory Service of Central School of Speech and Drama in north London. Since 2003 he has been employed as Director of Programmes of the Psychosynthesis & Education Trust in London, responsible for the training of counsellors and psychotherapists, as well as continuing in private practice. He has a particular interest in the culture of groups and organisations and the devising of innovative interpersonal skills training.

MEDIA: AUDREY MPUNZWANA:

Audrey is Communication Consultant with international experience in various sectors. Having started her career in radio and television (in her native Zimbabwe) before joining the United Nations Children's Fund, Audrey has been responsible for regional internal and external communication programmes in Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank, where she led the corporate affairs functions in Africa and Europe. More recently, Audrey has been focusing on internal communication at the African Development Bank. A post graduate of Leicester University's Centre for Mass Communication Research, Audrey is also a Member of the British Association of Communicators in Business. An accomplished singer, Audrey is also a voice over "artist" and has presented corporate videos.

Audrey believes that effective communication should be a primary conduit for aligning employees and clients with an organisation's strategic objectives. Communication is essential for good reputation management and integral to organisational success.

ACTORS:

TIMOTHY DAVIES: ACTOR/FACILITATOR

Tim was born in Wiltshire and read Modern Languages at St John’s College, Cambridge. His extensive theatre work includes seasons at the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester Festival Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe. He has played at arts festivals in Athens, Baalbek, Chicago, Edinburgh, Hong Kong and Tokyo and twice at the great amphitheatre of Epidavros in Greece, with Sir Peter Hall's masked productions of The Oresteia and Lysistrata.

On the concert platform, he has played the Narrator in Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale at the Almeida, Josef Mauer in Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and El Duende in John Abulafia’s production of María de Buenos Aires at the Bath Festival.

His many TV appearances include A Touch of Frost, Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Fantabulosa! and Kilvert in Kilvert’s Diary, an 18 part series for BBC2. Film roles include Howard Carter, discoverer of Tutankhamun’s tomb, in Mysteries of Egypt, and Chénier in Perfume.

For Craft of Communication, Tim has worked on training programmes for J P Morgan, Coors Breweries Ltd, SHM Productions, Hedron and North Yorkshire Council. He has also worked extensively in training and presentation with other corporate clients, including The Post Office, BAA and Accenture.

KATE O CONNELL

Kate trained at LAMDA from 1982-5 and won the comedy prize. She has worked in theatre, film and television for ten years ranging from the Royal Court Theatre to a live cinema commercial for British Airways performed in UCI cinema complexes up and down the country. Always fascinated by the complexities of human nature Kate decided to train as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and worked with several clients for 8 years. She is currently the Senior Consultant at Drawing Down The Moon-the Introduction Agency for thinking people-interviewing,,assessing suitability,matching potential partners and coaching clients through any dating difficulties that may arise.

Kate is a graduate of Henley Business School where she studied executive coaching. She helps her clients using both her drama and psychotherapeutic background.

For Craft of Communication, Kate has worked with Winchester Health Trust.