2023.04.30 – 0850 – Vocal Trauma A secondary problem comes when you release that breath through the previously tightened folds. Added together you have the very real possibility of ‘vocal trauma’, serious damage to your folds. Think through the vocalisations that often come with the gym-strains of ‘glottal attack’ – using that pressure behind the larynx to give added strength through added tension. You have seen it (perhaps with weightlifters or tennis players), if not done it yourself, perhaps ...
Apr 29, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 850
2023.04.29 – 0849 – Sub-Glottal Pressure VOICE BOX Sub-glottal Pressure OK, so ‘sub’ is ‘below’, so this is the pressure below the glottis. A ‘glottal stop’ is the stop-start airflow from your throat in a word such as ‘uh-oh’ or when the word ‘butter’ is said without the middle t’s: ‘buh-er’. Indeed, ironically, the word ‘glottal’ also includes a glottal stop. Those sounds are made by closing and opening of the vocal folds. If you say ‘butter’ in the usual way and gently and slowly, and then wit...
Apr 28, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 849
2023.04.28 – 0848 – Help! The Gym Has Wrecked My Voice! But beware: · Strong physical exertion soon before a presentation can cause physical exhaustion which will be heard in your voice · Weightlifting and working out your upper body and neck and shoulder area can cause stress and tension · Damage from exercise such as from weightlifting, pull ups, rowing or even bent over a cycling machine for a long time, can pull muscles in your neck and shoulders, limiting your movement and causing stress in...
Apr 27, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 848
2023.04.27 – 0847 – Fit Body Factors: intensity and balance Factors to consider: · Exercise intensity – how hard you push yourself and for how long o Especially on days that you will be performing o Be careful of ‘red lining’ – there’s usually no need to push things to the max o Muscular damage or failure can be painful and long term, affecting you emotionally as well as physically · Exercise balance o The exercise selection – don’t overwork one particular group, so balance ‘pulling’ with runnin...
Apr 26, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 847
2023.04.26 – 0846 – Fit Body, Fit Voice Physical fitness and training Of course, your voice needs the rest of you to be in shape, your overall health, fitness, strength and posture, not just the actual vocal mechanics! And that means the right kind of exercise: · Core and aerobic exercises help you with strength and breath control · Aerobic exercise, such as swimming or running, help vocal stamina by increasing the speed the muscles are oxygenated · Swimming will also help your lung capacity · A...
Apr 25, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 846
2023.04.25 – 0845 – Birthday Candles Birthday candles Stand as previously described, with your feet firmly on the floor shoulder-width apart, knees very slightly bent rather than locked, with dropped and relaxed shoulders. · Put your hands on your diaphragm area to help you feel and picture the following process · Now blow out some imaginary candles on a cake, with short sharp, exaggerated panting bursts of air… you should see and feel a lot of movement in your diaphragm as you do this · Now do ...
Apr 24, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 845
2023.04.24 – 0844 – Sue-eeeeee Sue-eeeeee Stand as previously described, with your feet firmly on the floor shoulder-width apart, knees very slightly bent rather than locked, with dropped and relaxed shoulders. · Put your hands on your diaphragm area to help you feel and picture the following process · Start relaxed breathing, and let air drop in to your lungs over a count of four · Then, as you release that air, again for a count of four, make the start of the Sue-ey sound: “ ssss ” through you...
Apr 23, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 844
2023.04.23 – 0843 – Let It All Out Let It All Out Focussing on full exhalations helps expand your diaphragm. · Lie on the floor in a semi-supine position (the ‘sit-up’ position described earlier). · Exhale all air through your mouth · Relax and let air drop back in (don’t gasp), and breathe naturally for a minute before repeating the exercise Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 22, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 843
2023.04.22 – 0842 – It’s Hip to Breathe Square It’s Hip to Breathe Square Square Breathing is used by US Navy Seals among others to create calmness and control. · Sit or lie down so you are relaxed and comfortable · Breathe in for a count of four as you draw one side of a ‘square’ in your mind · Pause and hold the breath for a count of four, as you mentally draw the second side · Exhale for another count of four, picturing the third side of the square · And then hold for the count of four as you...
Apr 21, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 842
2023.04.21 – 0841 – The Crunch and Stretch The Crunch and Stretch Rib stretches open up the intercostal muscles (the ones that run between the ribs, and help form and move the chest wall), and release tension. Breath in through the mouth – as that’s what we tend to use when we are actually speaking. · Lie on the floor and bring each knee in to your chest, and then flop them to one side and your head to the other side · Put your arms away from your body to form a T shape · Breath in and then swap...
Apr 20, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 841
2023.04.20 – 0840 – How To Know Your Air Flow How do you know, your air-flow? Watch the clock Take a standard breath (not a huge gulp) and then let it out as though gently releasing air from a balloon: ssssssssssss on your natural ‘home tone’ until the supply is exhausted. Then repeat the exercise with a touch of vocality to it, swapping the ‘sss’ for a long but gentle ‘zzzzz’ How long did the sound last for on each exercise? A ‘good’ flow will last for around 15 seconds. Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Apr 19, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 840
2023.04.19 – 0839 – Don’t Take Fish Gulps But be aware of you use of air: do you tend to gulp? Or are you squeezing out the final words in a sentence with the last ounce of air you have spare? What about your other breathing habits? Be aware that in certain situations you may feel short of breath: if you are recovering from an illness, if you are nervous, if you’re tense… If you take in too much air than you need to use: You can take fish-like gulps You may get light-headed You may damage your f...
Apr 18, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 839
2023.04.18 – 0838 – Excessive Oxygenation Excessive oxygenation You only really want to take in as much air as you will need to get to the end of your adlibbed phrase or sentence, or to read what’s been written. So how do you know how much that is? As for adlibs, it usually comes naturally; I mean, how many times do you see someone strain at the end of a sentence in a conversation as they run out of air, or take a huge gulp before they say something. Almost never. You instinctively have the brea...
Apr 17, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 838
2023.04.17 – 0837 – Efficient Air-Use Exercises Now consider these exercises to help you create: · The most efficient way to get air in to your body · The most effective way to use it to power your voice (and that doesn’t necessarily mean to give you a powerful voice) · How to control your out-breath for a consistent, confident sound · And how to support your voice to the end of every sentence I mentioned earlier that a lot of the exercises combine across the three niches of vocal, physical and ...
Apr 16, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 837
2023.04.16 – 0836 – The Deep Breathing Double Whammy So short and shallow breathing from your upper chest results in a tightening and tensing of neck and throat muscles (as well as affecting the pecs which raise the ribs, and the shoulders) which leads to a reaching and squeezing voice. Such breathing can be as a result of, well, ‘life’: nervousness, bad posture, the ‘stress of the day’… Better breathing, deeper and diaphragmatic using the lower ribs and the lower back, not only gives you more a...
Apr 15, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 836
2023.04.15 – 0835 – “Why Do I Run Out Of Breath?” Running out of breath before the end of a sentence could be the effect of poor support (you did not take in enough to start with), or poor writing (the sentence was simply too long to be read in a single comfortable breath). Or it may be because of poor control (you leaked air as you spoke, wasting it in perhaps a breathy voice, caused by inefficient closure of your vocal folds), a breathy voice also dehydrating your vocal folds. Without enough a...
Apr 14, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 835
2023.04.14 – 0834 – The Breath Control Process Breath control (or ‘ supportive breathing’ ) ensures that your vocal folds are getting just the amount of air based on what it is you want to say. [1] 1. Your brain has a thought and sends a message to your ribs and diaphragm muscles that you will need air to vocalise that thought. 2 . Your ribcage expands and that leads your diaphragm to drop, which in turn creates room in your chest cavity for your lungs to expand. Aristotle coined the phrase “ na...
Apr 13, 2023•6 min•Season 3Ep. 834
2023.04.13 – 0833 – Breath Support and Breath Control Breath Support and Breath Control These two terms are often used interchangeably (I do so myself), but there is a specific difference. Breath Support Is maximizing the air capacity available to you for speaking, through best posture and best use of the diaphragm, lung health and so on. Fitness of the diaphragm is key because when you speak the diaphragm is constantly relaxing and stretching. (A quick reminder: your diaphragm is the ‘elastic’ ...
Apr 12, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 833
2023.04.12 – 0832 – Passive and Active Breathing A quick reminder that air is what fuels and carries your voice and that you invariably speak on the outbreath, when your stomach is coming in, a bit like an accordion. [1] Breathe through the nose where you can (but don’t sniff) to warm and filter the air, although when talking, short sound-less snatches are taken instead. Keep topping up your air supply as you talk, rather than speaking until you’ve used every last drop of air … like a waiter in ...
Apr 11, 2023•8 min•Season 3Ep. 832
2023.04.11 – 0831 – The Key Thing of Breathing BREATHING We’ve looked before at the importance of proper breathing, not just to give you life (!) but to give your voice enough support so your words are heard and you have enough fuel to feed your voice to the end of a thought. Additionally, your voice will sound ‘fuller’ (not ‘louder’ or ‘deeper’ but with more ‘colour’ and ‘resonance’), with more range, and your articulation will be more agile. What you say will sound more inviting and compelling...
Apr 10, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 831
2023.04.10 – 0830 – Lion Yawns Have a large, lion-like yawn to focus on getting the blood flowing into your throat and face. · Then move all the muscles of the face individually · Screw up your face and make the smallest face you can: close your eyes, purse your lips, frown. · Now try and make it as large, wide, open and expressive as you can. Eyes and mouth wide open. · Repeat this a couple of times and allow the tension to melt away. Then roll your shoulders, slowly shake and nod your head (se...
Apr 09, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 830
2023.04.09 – 0829 – Cooling Down After Voice Work Cooling down after voice work Most people know the importance of warming up the voice, even if not sure exactly how. But cooling down the voice? Not so much. But the truth is that if you have a high vocal demand, cooling down with give you more stamina, reducing fatigue and enabling better functioning. As we saw earlier, a “ high vocal demand ” could be: · Lots of talking in general conversation · Lots of ‘presentation’ talking with a mic, perhap...
Apr 08, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 829
2023.04.08 – 0828 – Yoga For Your Voice Yoga for your voice Traditional yoga is an ancient form of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing. The main components of yoga are postures and breathing. As we saw earlier, one of the seven chakras, or energy centres, of the body, is the Throat Chakra. It is believed that a blocked throat chakra can impact your ability to communicate, and an open and balanced thr...
Apr 07, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 828
2023.04.07 – 0827 – Stretching Cats and Wobbly Babies Tense and release · Actively applying tension to parts of the body and releasing and relaxing · (need more examples) The cat arch · Onto your hands and knees and stretch your spine like a cat arching and wriggling around. The wobbly baby · Onto you back · Lift your arms and legs up, keeping your elbows and knees slightly bent · Shake them quickly and strongly · Don’t hold your breath! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
Apr 06, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 827
2023.04.06 – 0826 – The Forward Flop Forward flop · Stand with your feet hip-width apart. · Inhale and as you do so, raise your arms to the sky · Then slowly bend at your waist on the exhale and take your hands toward the ground. It doesn’t matter how far you can drop · Stay here for a couple of breaths · Then on an inhale slowly go back up to a standing position · Now drop down again, and as you do so move through your vocal pitch range with an “ ahhhhh ” sound, so when you are standing tall yo...
Apr 05, 2023•4 min•Season 3Ep. 826
2023.04.05 – 0825 – Side Slides The side slides · Stand with your feet slightly further apart than your hips, for added stability · Take a deep breath – properly and from your diaphragm, then as you slowly exhale… do some side bends · … tilting your body to the right with your right hand running down the side of your right leg · Take another breath in as you slowly return to the upright position where you will finish your exhalation. · Repeat on the left side – and then the complete sequence twi...
Apr 04, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 825
2023.04.04 – 0824 – Yes and No Yes and No · Move your head from side to side in a wide but slow ‘no’ gesture · Move your head up and down in a high, low and slow ‘yes’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 03, 2023•2 min•Season 3Ep. 824
2023.04.03 – 0823 – Hands Down Hands down · Slowly lift your hands over your head… · And as you do so breathe in. · Then exhale as you move your hands down again. · This will help you concentrate on your breath control Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 02, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 823
2023.04.02 – 0822 – Hula Hoops Hula hoops · Stand with your feet hip-width apart and with your knees slightly bent · Put your hands on your hips and do a ‘hula hoop’, big circle movement with your hips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 01, 2023•5 min•Season 3Ep. 822
2023.04.01 – 0821 – Shoulder Shrugs and Rolls Shoulder shrugs and rolls · Raise and lower your shoulders in a slow exaggerated shrug. Up to your ears and then hold for two seconds and then feel the muscles relax as you drop them · Put your hands on your shoulders and do some big forward shoulder rolls three or four times to unlock tension. The roll them backwards. · Repeat each exercise and become aware of the tension flowing away. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 31, 2023•3 min•Season 3Ep. 821
