For actors, the need for presence on stage is invaluable.  With it, you can capture and hold your audience from beginning to end. Without it, you will leave no lasting impression but boredom, Pasty Rodenburg has been a voice coach to actors for many years.  Her reassuring advice and common sense philosophy have helped nurture many stars. However, the real significance of her book, Presence, is that she demonstrates that similar guidance can be applied to everyone and as a result, can enhance all our lives.

The purpose of the book reveals itself in the subtitle - 'How to use positive energy for success in every situation'.  Positive thinking is the key to transforming out lives, but this is not in a New Age Guru sort of way.  From the start, Rodenburg explains what she means by presence and how it can be lost but regained.  She talks of three circles, which define various forms of behaviour, or rather, types of personality.  The First Circle is the introvert who feels left out or ignored because they are too self-conscious.  The Third is the appositive extreme, being forceful and overbearing with a tendency to ignore others.  The Second Circle, however, is the ideal state to be in. It's the calm, attentive, alert individual who stays aware of the people and situations around them. As a result it's a position of strength to be in.

The bulk of the book sets out to explain how to achieve this Second Circle state, by providing a series of simple but highly effective exercises and personal experiences.  Rodenburg guides you through breathing exercises and posture before turning to varied forms of work or social environmentwhich need the correct presence for the right personal results.  Yoga and the Alexander technique form part of her foundations. She liberally sprinkles in quotations too from writers or philosophers, which effectively underline her carefully measured advice.  Presence is an invigorating read as well as a encouraging key to transforming your life.  Patsy Rodenburg makes a reassuring teacher, remaining practical but inspiring, for once, this is a book that could transform your life and you could discover that since all the world’s a stage we can all have starring roles in shaping a more positive, ultimately rewarding future for ourselves.