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THE
DIXON STORY
In 1930 an eager young man showed up in New York City. He wanted
to be an actor and had already been through horrendous problems
with his speech. He was a stutterer. In the 1920's when you stuttered,
the typical answer was, there was something wrong with your brain.
It could never be fixed. Alfred Dixon could not afford to believe
this. He set about correcting himself and succeeded so superbly
that he gave the remaining thirty-four years of his life to helping
everyone else, using the speech methods he had devised in desperation
to save himself.
In this year of 2000, approaching
the millenium, the Alfred and Elizabeth Dixon Speech Systems have
been a developing process for 67 years.
Elizabeth Dixon, his wife,
who has been teaching for forty years, believes that as a result
of two people working together to perfect the care and development
of such speech methods, the Dixons have "tried-and- true"
solutions to voice and speech problems.
Through the work of Alfred
and Elizabeth Dixon, a series of Speech Systems have evolved like
none other. Their reputation took Elizabeth Dixon all the way to
No. 10 Downing Street, London in 1984 and 1985 to the office of
Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of England.
One of Lady Thatcher's advisors
had heard of the Dixon Methods because of their effectiveness with
show business stars such as Rex Harrison, Noel Coward, Katharine
Hepburn, Mary Martin, and others of that caliber. Notably in the
Noel Coward biography by Cole Lesley, Alfred Dixon received glowing
tributes for his aid to Coward and his coaching with the now-classic
record of the period, Noel Coward at Las Vegas: "Mad Dogs and
Englishmen Go Out in the Noon Day Sun..."
Elizabeth Dixon believes
that in today's world, the average person needs a professional voice.
That is why she has set her sights on helping professionals and
everyday people to meet the challenges they face in the modern workplace.
No matter how brilliant you
may be technically, if you don't have the voice and personality
to present and explain your ideas, some one else walks off with
the credit.
What is a professional voice?
Primarily one with long range vocal stamina, precise phrasing and
clarity of speech sounds. One that is free of regional flavors,
heavy dialect accents or sloppy colloquialisms, and has sufficient
projection for vocal authority. Then, add some color and expression
to polish the whole.
In the new century, good
speech will be one of the greatest assets in business, professional
and social life.
Remember - your voice -
your speech - is your invisible calling cardä.
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