Keir Starmer: can we just voice train him ourselves?

[Stripeyzebraz]

Nobody has done anything about Keir Starmer’s voice yet. And maybe Labour don’t have the expertise among their staff.

There must be Lamda and elocution people on here. Can Mumsnet just train him via a thread (I am sure he would read it and take our advice).

What could we tell him to do? Gargle with whisky?

We get the leaders we deserve.

Listened to that podcast with Rory Stewart and found it depressing that Stewart was the more radical one.

Starmer is not going to bring in change, he's just an establishment man. Not interested in voting reform, not interested in reforming parliament, not interested in reforming the press (i.e. Leveson), nothing radical on climate or economy. All things Stewart implored him to do. Just fluff.

Keir needs a better speech writer too. He repeats himself far too much.
I agree OP, he needs voice training which includes content. Look what it did for the wretched T woman ( her name is banned in this house)

I agree, sadly.

I mean: I'd still rather him than the shower of tools the Tory party have come up with because the only radical thing about them is how far they are willing to go to gain power and money. But that's not a ringing endorsement of Starmer.

I agree with Rory Stewart: we are in a spot where we need a leader prepared to make big and decisive decisions, push forward with action and driven by a desire for a fairer society. From the current crop, we are so far away from that.

If the right voice helps someone achieve that, then coaching should be one of the tools used.

It probably is. Nothing wrong with Keir’s voice. I could listen to him all day unlike ‘vroom vroom, blah blah, blah’ Johnson. Truss sounds like a fucking idiot every time she opens her mouth. The Tories (and right wing press) are terrified because they know Labour will win the next general election and are latching onto anything they can in desperation. Pathetic.

Interestingly the public are not yet convinced that Labour will win, but at least a third more will vote Labour than Tory.

I find that he's one of the few politicians I can currently bear to listen to.

If Kier Starmer sounded ( only his voice I mean ) like Boris Johnson he would have a bit more chance. I can't explain why , but voices and pitch do matter and KS's voice makes me want to drop off to sleep.
It's weird that most male Conservative MPs have much better projection , on lbc radio this week they had a few conservative MPs and three Labour ones and the Labour ones sounded worse , more hesitant and less authority, almost scared to speak up. Maybe it's just a class / upbringing thing? Although KS isn't from a poor working class background. I think that his previous job won't help , the right wing press will drag up things from there to beat him with too , an ex human rights lawyer is fair game for them. I've read a lot of negative things about him on Twitter too. I think he'll have a hard time of it turning things around still and win back the old voters.

I always think he sounds like Dale Winton.

On the contrary, if he sounded like Boris Johnson he would have no chance. He'd be criticised for sounding too posh and therefore out of touch with the electorate.

I mean, he’s had quite the career for someone who apparently requires elocution lessons. Human rights barrister, QC, knighthood, leader of the opposition… Boy done good me thinks.

I've listened to several PMQs not always willingly it's sometimes on the radio at work and I always thinks he sounds a whole lot more plausible than the stuttering, blustering, waffling buffoon BJ . Was he taught by a voice coach? Is that something to emulate??

We definitely need big changes to help us move towards a fairer , decent society for all. What would these changes need to be though? Do we need more MP’s from less privileged backgrounds to implement better policies ? Why do we trust privileged , posh people to govern us , and if they have a confidence and a swagger so much the better it seems? Why do some pp ‘s want to improve Sir Keir’s voice but then still criticise him. What do they want ? More poshies ? I’m off to have a cup of tea and a think!

We get the leaders we deserve.

😳Were we all serial killers in a former life??

Im sure it was Eddie Izzard that did a sketch about people not listening to what you say but its the way you say it.

Sadly i hope this would be a factor when people are voting for someone to run our country, but sadly when youve got some people going with personality, charsima and a load of other things you want in a mate at the pub ,rather than our PM, i fear Eddie might acutally be right for this also, sadly and frustratingly!!!

Oh and I don't think he needs any voice training.

It may be a superficial thing but people do notice looks/voice - there's a reason cartoonists exaggerate aspects of a person's looks. Keir Starmer sounds a bit nasal, but he's not a lying, cheating asshat so the timbre of his voice shouldn't matter, but on a certain level it does.

Its nasal and for me its like listening to some one scraping their fingernails down a chalk board, he makes me cringe when he talks.

The only other thing he could do is stop talking so much bollocks and get an original idea apart from constant wining.

I cannot believe anyone thinks Boris sounds credible or trustworthy. That 'wah rah' public school bluster always sounded patronising and dodgy to me.

Keir is a bit nasal but at least he sounds intelligent and briefed, not the hectoring bluster Johnson falls back on because he is too lazy to read his briefs.

Are some people still so in thrall to the class system they are impressed by Johnson's voice just because it is posh?

Very possibly… 😅

Nah I just think that if you vote for people because they've got a nicely resonant voice or an educated accent or a confident manner of delivery (whether you realise you're doing that or not), then you have to expect that you'll get politicians who are great at cultivating the right image but whose policies may or may not align with your own.

I think I may be lucky in being less susceptible to those things because of my autistic social communication deficits, which result in my having to analyse those aspects of communication somewhat independently of the words that are spoken. They're deficits, yes, and can make my life more difficult at times, but they can sometimes mean that standard manipulation techniques can't hit right — for example, I was in group therapy once with a very socially skilled therapist who manipulated group members and group dynamics with her careful use of tone and delivery, such that neurotypical members of the group weren't able to notice that the words she was saying were contradictory, or a misrepresentation, or subtly changed over time.

I really like Kier but I have noticed the voice. He does sound a bit congested. I notice it most when he says words like "important" and "politics"

Matt Forde does a good impression of him

OP, YANBU.

Compare with the mellifluous baritone that is Sir Geoffrey Cox…

I agree that his voice hasn’t stopped him from tremendous success and enormous positive impact throughout his long career.

… but PM is a niche job. And it’s quite competitive. If vocal training improved his chances of winning the next election (and putting Labour in government), it would be worth paying attention to this detail.

it is curious that Keir Starmer and those around him haven’t addressed the issue of his voice lacking the authority of a prime minister

Perhaps he's been too busy stamping out Corbyn's legacy of antisemitism and bringing down Boris Johnson to think about it!?

@HolidayPleeease

Isn’t the ultimate goal to become Prime Minister, though (… and I agree with you that his reforming the post-Corbyn Labour Party, and his management of himself while serving in Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet, show incredible political savvy)?

There are gains to be made with voice coaching, however marginal one thinks they may be.