MATTHEW COLLINS
Matthew Collins is a writer, speaker and voice coach who spent 12 years presenting on TV.
He then raised two sons alone before becoming a prison teacher in Wormwood Scrubs where he loved running Speaking Shakespeare workshops.
To coincide with this year’s 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Matthew’s just launched (April ’25) We Sons of World War Two Vets – a podcast about men who fought in the war whose stories are told by their sons.
In each episode Matthew explores the effects of the war – not just on the fathers who fought in it but also on their sons.
To find out more, click here: https://www.matthewcollins.com/we-sons-of-ww2-vets
ABOUT
Matthew’s career began on TV as the BBC2 Travel Show’s Special Assignments Man. For ten summers he was given a weekly surprise assignment – anything from spending a week in a French nudist camp to making a six-days-and-nights coach journey to Athens and back.
He also presented on Wogan, Open Air, This Morning, Well Worth A Visit… And (his Alan Partridge moment) an Anglia TV quiz show.
He then brought up two sons alone, wrote books and articles about their travails and travels, and ran prison Fathers Workshops.
Once his sons were teenagers, he did an MA in Voice at the Central School of Speech and Drama. There he met the RSC’s Cicely Berry who changed his life.
On learning he worked with prisoners, she invited him to her home for masterclasses and inspired him to do Shakespeare in prison.
His first session was a Wormwood Scrubs Speaking Romeo and Juliet workshop. Prisoners played all roles – including Juliet, the Nurse, and Lady Capulet. And when a man said, ‘Cheers mate – you really got me out of myself’, Matthew knew he wanted to do more prison work.
He ended up teaching for ten years in Scrubs (and occasionally Send – a women’s prison). And his prison Shakespeare sessions led to further voicework – with police officers, business people, and Women’s Institute members.
Today Matthew runs individual and group voicework sessions; and Explore Shakespeare by Speaking Him workshops. He also runs corporate Voice Clubs. And voice and speaking sessions for local authorities and law firms.
Schools work has included a presentation on Language and Social Media for the London Oratory; a talk to Dulwich College on Teaching Shakespeare to Prisoners; voice sessions for King’s Worcester; and regular Speaking Shakespeare workshops (in French and English) at Lycée Charles de Gaulle, South Kensington.
Recent talks include a luncheon speech (Budget Travel, Borrowed Grannies, Tax-Free Cash from Yours Kids AND Shopping for Free In Supermarkets) for Cancer Research; a speech to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s Legal Department about Teaching Shakespeare to Prisoners; and a Brilliant Communicators Conference presentation called How Shakespeare Can Improve Your Public Speaking – delivered to speechwriters for figures such as the US Ambassador to London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a former Swedish prime minister.
In March 2025 he gave a workshop on The Physicality of Shakespeare’s Language to European Speechwriters Conference delegates at Oxford University.
For info about Matthew’s public Speaking Shakespeare workshops (and to enquire about talks and individual/group voicework):
post@matthewcollins.co.uk
Info on Matthew’s new podcast: https://www.matthewcollins.com/we-sons-of-ww2-vets
And to find out about Speak Well With Willpower, a social enterprise Matthew founded with two colleagues that aims to level up public speaking skills, using Shakespeare, in disadvantaged communities:
www.speakwellwithwillpower.co.uk