002 How to Have Good Vocal Health - Part 1

01/24/21 • 17 min

1 Listener

This is the first part of a series of two episodes about vocal health. What should we do to have an excellent vocal health? In Part 1, we talk about how our lifestyle affects our voice's shape. We analyse how our diet influences our voice's performance and stress the importance of keeping ourselves hydrated.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

How the state of our body impacts our voice
The benefits of exercising
What to include and what to avoid in our diet in order to have a healthy voice
Truths and myths about dairy products and voice health
What kind of medication affects our hydration

The term vocal health is often associated with healing or repairing damage, rather than preventing wounds. But it doesn't have to be like that. We can incorporate simple habits and change our routines towards a balanced and voice health-friendly lifestyle.

Thanks to Jack Evans for creating the music for The Voice Coach Podcast!

Resources:

NHS: How to Get to Sleep - Sleep and Tiredness https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-to-get-to-sleep/
Is Caffeine Dehydrating to the Vocal Folds? https://choralnet.org/2018/11/is-caffeine-dehydrating-to-the-vocal-folds/
British Voice Association: Reflux and Your Voice https://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/voicecare_reflux-and-voice.htm
Everyday Voice Care by Joanna Cazden https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1458443183/
Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices by Christina Shewell https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470019921/
Join my Facebook group Voice & Accent Hub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthubb
Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6sEJJZohM

Mentioned in this episode:

Buy Nic's Book

Head to onthemicbook.com to get your copy now

Get my book here

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

How the state of our body impacts our voice
The benefits of exercising
What to include and what to avoid in our diet in order to have a healthy voice
Truths and myths about dairy products and voice health
What kind of medication affects our hydration

Thanks to Jack Evans for creating the music for The Voice Coach Podcast!

Resources:

NHS: How to Get to Sleep - Sleep and Tiredness https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-to-get-to-sleep/
Is Caffeine Dehydrating to the Vocal Folds? https://choralnet.org/2018/11/is-caffeine-dehydrating-to-the-vocal-folds/
British Voice Association: Reflux and Your Voice https://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/voicecare_reflux-and-voice.htm
Everyday Voice Care by Joanna Cazden https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1458443183/
Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices by Christina Shewell https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470019921/
Join my Facebook group Voice & Accent Hub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthubb
Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6sEJJZohM

Mentioned in this episode:

Buy Nic's Book

Head to onthemicbook.com to get your copy now

Get my book here

Previous Episode

001 How to Structure Your Voice Warm Up

1 Recommendations

In this episode, I talk about a proper voice warm-up, and I cover the bases of how to do it, when to do it, and for how long. We also talk about the difference between a warm-up and a workout of the voice and the five stages to correctly perform a voice warm-up.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

The difference between a warm-up and a workout of the voice
The simplified science of how the voice is produced
Five stages of a mindful voice warm-up
Three spaces the voice travels through

Warming up the voice is not just doing loads of random tongue twisters for no reason. It's also about finding out what your voice needs, and concentrating on it. Lastly, it is crucial to keep your warm-up routine nice and playful anytime you can.

Thanks to Jack Evans for creating the music for The Voice Coach Podcast!

Resources:

Voice Science Works: Resonance https://www.voicescienceworks.org/resonance.html
The Voice Foundation: How the Voice is Produced https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/understanding-voice-production/
Barbara Houseman Masterclass: Developing Your Voice https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/education/collections/tinhouse/barbara-houseman-masterclass-developing-your-voice
Dane Chalfin - Vocal Rehabilitation Coach https://www.vocalrehabilitation.com/
ShewellVoice https://www.shewellvoice.com/
Academic article on hydration https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2925668/
Where I did my Vocal Health First Aider Training https://vocalhealth.co.uk
Vocal Mist Nebuliser https://myvocalmist.com/products/vocalmist-portable-nebulizer
Nebuliser or Steamer article from The Naked Vocalist Podcast https://www.thenakedvocalist.com/upgrade-your-vocal-steamer/
Join my Facebook group Voice & Accent Hub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthubb
Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6sEJJZohM

Mentioned in this episode:

Get my book here

Buy Nic's Book

Head to onthemicbook.com to get your copy now

Get my book here

Next Episode

003 How to Have Good Vocal Health - Part 2

This is Part 2 of how to have good vocal health, and we will talk about the other side of vocal health: the preparation for using our voice. We can control several factors that affect our voice's performance, like alignment, breathing, mid-season resets, exercises as yawning and articulation stretches, and more. We need to remember that using our voice is a holistic practice between the mind, the body and the voice.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

The best way to keep our vocal health in check
What vocal resets exercises are, and how to do them
Why body alignment is the perfect ally to prevent vocal fatigue
The importance of performing voice warm-ups
Recap for an ideal vocal health

Having a healthy voice requires commitment and constant monitoring of our habits, reflecting on our vocal health routines and adopting consistent, reliable, and vocally healthy practices.

Big thanks to Jack Evans for creating music especially for this podcast!

Resources: