About

Matthew Collins is a writer, speaker and voice coach who works with clients ranging from prisoners and business people to members of the Women’s Institute.

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Many moons ago, he was Special Assignments Man for BBC2’s The Travel Show – a curious low-budget-travel job that he did for ten years.

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Each week a stunned Matthew was given tickets, money and a surprise travel assignment – anything from spending a week in a French nudist camp to making a six-days-and-nights coach journey to Athens and back (with only a half-hour break in Athens).

 

He also presented on Wogan; Open Air; This Morning; Well Worth A Visit… And (his Alan Partridge moment) an Anglia TV quiz show - for sixth formers. He then brought up two sons alone, wrote books and articles about their travels (and travails) and ran prison Fathers Workshops. 

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Once his sons were teenagers, he did an MA in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama. There he met the RSC's, Cicely Berry. On learning he worked with prisoners, she invited him to her home for masterclasses and inspired him to run prison Speaking Shakespeare sessions. 

 

His first session was Speaking Romeo and Juliet in Wormwood Scrubs. Afterwards, when one man said, "Cheers guv - you really got me out of myself" and another said, "Fair play to you mate - you got us through this s**t. Respect!" he knew he wanted to do more prison work.

 

He spent ten years in Scrubs and started doing voicework with other non-thespians – ex-prisoners, police officers, Women’s Institute members... Recently, he's also done community voice work with organisations such as Breaking Barriers and The Longford Trust.

 

Matthew runs online and in-person Voice Courses; and Explore Shakespeare by Speaking Him workshops. He also runs public speaking sessions for local authorities and law firms. 

 

School work includes a presentation about Language and Social Media for the London Oratory; a talk to Dulwich College about Teaching Shakespeare to Prisoners; and Speaking Shakespeare workshops for King’s Worcester and Lycée Charles de Gaulle. 

 

He also runs Speaking Shakespeare workshops that are open to the public. These encourage participants to delight in speaking rich, powerful language that can take voices to unexplored zones. He takes a non-academic, non-thespian approach - that is also fun.

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Public events have included Valentine’s Day Speaking Romeo and Juliet workshops; Mother's Day Explore Shakespeare’s Mothers sessions; Halloween Explore Shakespeare's Ghosts workshops in Brompton Cemetery; and sessions on Shakespeare’s sonnets.

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Recent private presentations include:

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A luncheon speech (Budget Travel, Borrowed Grannies, Tax-Free Cash from Yours Kids and Shopping for Free In Supermarkets) for Cancer Research

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A speech to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s Legal Department on Teaching Public Speaking to Prisoners.

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A presentation called How Shakespeare Can Improve Your Public Speaking delivered to an audience of speechwriters for public figures such as the US Ambassador to London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a former Swedish prime minister at the Brilliant Communicators conference in London.

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A workshop on The Physicality of Shakespeare's Language at the European Speechwriters' Network conference at Oxford University. 

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WW2 Podcast:

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In Spring 2025, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Matthew launched We Sons of World War Two Vets, a podcast about men who fought in World War Two whose stories are told by their sons.

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The latest (Episode 11 - Arthur and Syd) has just been published (20th Jan 2026). It is a funny and moving interview with comedian Arthur Smith​ about his dad, Syd, who became a prisoner of war at El Alamein and ended up in Colditz.

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Hit "We Sons of WW2 Vets" at the top of this page for details about the podcast series.

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And for information about talks or Speaking Shakespeare workshops (public, corporate - or for social organisations), please complete the contact form below.

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