Voice what Matters: the Podcast

This episode is a gentle rib opening sequence that will help you breathe more easily. This is great if you find deep breathing difficult or if you find you often hold your ribs in place and they don’t seem to move with ease. Having easy rib movement is key to a powerful voice. So get something comfortable to lie on and grab some pillows– you definitely want to be comfy for this gentle sequence.

Happy breathing!

This is the sequel to our episode from a couple of weeks ago about Voice for Camera. The first sequence focused on your vocal power, and this one focuses more on your speech clarity. Both are important to being understood. This is a great sequence if you work on camera or you are using microphones at live “performance” events (whether that be acting or giving presentations).

We have many sequences on previous podcast episodes that help you warm up and prepare ahead of a performance or a presentation, but what about that moment right before you get up to speak? That moment, while you are waiting, is often nerve-wracking. This is a short sequence that coaches you through where to place your focus in that moment before, allowing you to stay present, rather than in another world thinking about how nervous you are. You can listen to it ahead of time and then keep the sequence in mind whenever you are in ‘the moment before’. The sequence is very simple but very effective!

Hey Friends!

We're dipping our toes into a big conversation this week, talking about something that we've both experienced and are frequently asked about by family and friends...JAW TENSION! Whether it's situational, emotional, grinding teeth, alignment issues, athletic activity, the jaw is an interesting reflection of how we manage all kinds of stresses. This episode is a general conversation about where it comes from and dealing with the discomfort of jaw pain. It also offers a couple exercises you can do anytime, anywhere.

We also take a moment to celebrate our fantastic technological advancements for 2020, which will hopefully mean better and better audio quality for you.

But back to the jaw, there are numerous resources you can look into to help manage tension and pain. Healthline offers a useful article that outlines different conditions in case you're concerned what you're feeling goes beyond day to day stress. If you are a nighttime teeth grinder this one has some good prevention tips.

The conversation and these starting exercises has made us realise we want to follow up with discussions about the tongue and the sneaky ways the tongue and jaw can create insidious little exchanges of tension. Our plan is to provide you with strategies for release and to keep tightness and pain at bay so if you notice anything and want to ask a question or make a comment, please do! We would love incorporate your thoughts into upcoming episodes.

In the meantime, be kind to yourself and your jaw. Take that extra moment in the shower or before bed to check in and give it a little massage, and try to check your frustration when pain/tension appears. It's just another way our fight or flight instincts kick in to try and protect us by bracing. Let yourself know it's ok, and hopefully that will encourage the discomfort to recede. Don't be afraid of the lessons your jaw has for you!

As always we'll encourage you to subscribe and review the podcast wherever you might choose to listen.

Take good care,

Christine & Lindsay

Are you finding yourself on Zoom a lot lately?

We are living through some interesting times. For the last few weeks, a third of the world’s population has been on lockdown as the world battles the Covid-19 Pandemic. For many of us, this has meant completely changing the way we regularly communicate both professionally and personally, because we can’t socialize with people outside of our homes. So we’re having to bridge the gap by communicating virtually— through platforms like Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, or Skype or FaceTime—- platforms where we can still see each other and in some cases even meet in groups.

All of this virtual communication brings up some interesting new communication challenges, including:

• Physical Tension: because we are moving a lot less potentially in life but definitely when we are spending our days sitting and communicating on screens, you might be noticing more physical tension in your body as you communicate.
• Restricted Breathing: This physical tension or destabilization might be restricting your breathing, making it harder to feel at ease and to speak from a supported, empowered place.
• Pushing Vocally: Because we’re not getting the same kind of verbal/physical cues from our audiences that are letting us know we are being clear or that they are on the same page, we might feel the need to overcompensate by pushing physically and vocally

This episode looks at some of these challenges and gives you some tips for how to handle them. The big takeaway is— don’t let communicating to a screen lull you into a false sense of security or divorce you further from your body as you communicate. Your body language, breathing and voice are even more important to pay attention to now than ever. It’s all about adjusting your awareness of how you’re communicating physically and vocally to this new medium. Warming up your body and your voice regularly is crucial, especially if you’re spending the majority of the rest of your day sitting down. We have a lot of warm ups on our website and podcast that you can look into to help you.

Tips covered in this episode will help you think about:

— your body language and being physically grounded, at ease and ready to communicate

— breathing deeply and easily

— supporting your voice

— structuring your content to help you build a stronger relationship with your audience

We are not sure at this point how much longer social distancing is going to go on, but the cues we’re getting so far suggest that we could be communicating virtually for awhile yet. So as you navigate this new medium, we’d love to hear from you about the challenges you’re facing and how this episode is helping you or raising new questions.

Take good care, stay safe and healthy!