This world class event was brought together by the wonderful Nina Kaloutsa global expert on voice and speech, Moscow Conservatoire trained soprano, and fellow traveller on this journey of voice, breath and self expression. I was made to feel profoundly welcome by Nina, Moisis Sergiannis, Christina Gatziastra, Angelos Fanourakis, Alexandra – Regina Tsantili, Panos and the entire team. 

Nina has created a remarkable community in Greece: warm, wise, clever people with a genuine love of public speaking and communication. For a voice coach, it is a dream audience. They get it. They care. 

My theme was coming home. Increasingly, I feel that in an age where AI can create almost everything with astonishing polish, digging deeper into our humanity and glorious imperfection is what matters. Speak from the heart. Ground breath, body, emotion and presence. 
 

The theme felt resonant throughout the conference. Dr. Nikolaos Dimitriadis, Dimitris Dimitriadis, Nikolas Fragkias, Peter Karagianakis, Georgia Koukoula and others explored neuroscience, communication, care and connection in a world that can so easily become performative. We worked with voice, grounding and poetry. Three brave souls stepped onto the stage to workshop Cavafis’ Ithaka in English translation, then later three more speakers performed the poem in Greek. Coming home to the language it was meant to live in. You could have heard a pin drop. 
 

It was a great reminder that communication is best learned via practice, repetition, embodiment. One participant said afterwards that the most powerful part was stepping onto the stage and discovering how communication transforms when confidence meets vulnerability.
 

There was also a moment of pure serendipity. During an exercise exploring breath through the sensory imagination of “smelling a rose,” someone from the audience brought me a rose from his own garden. It was the sweetest smelling rose I have ever encountered; a reminder of presence, care and kindness. And psychic powers! 
 

Athens itself is a delight for the senses. Coffee beside the Acropolis. Dinner by the sea near the Temple of Poseidon. Warm air. Thyme, Jasmine, Bougainvillea. 
 

I’m still buzzing off the inspiration, generosity, wisdom and soul of this great gathering. Special thanks to Stavroula Begni for her beautiful translation throughout the conference. 

And a hat tip to the ever brilliant Simon Lancaster, who is the whole reason I was there.