If you don’t like your voice, then do something about it. Your voice will be yearning to be free and expressive. People who have to listen to you also will be yearning for you to sound “better”. It’s not hard. I’ve spent a life-time doing this work and while it is challenging, it’s very pleasant to do. BTW, someone said they didn’t come to me because I look so fierce in my website image. Well, I am fierce but I’m very friendly to my clients. Yawn, stretch the throat, yawn again. Keep your throat easy. Dianne
Questions I must remember before I blurt out what I think!
Before I speak, I must ask myself three questions:
1. Is it true?
2. Is it necessary?
3. Is it kind?
I keep forgetting however and have to begin again over and over.
TEACH YOUR VOICE TO LAUGH HEALTHILY
TEN TIPS TO LAUGHING HAPPILY
An Actors Guide to Safe Stage Laughter
1. Rest and hydrate all through your run.
2. Warm up your voice before the show.
3. Maintain supported breath in an open chest, throat, and vowel space — the more relaxed your system, the less stress on it!
4. Gentle on the inhale — laughing is a breathing pattern, and the inhales can be short and sharp. If you can inhale through your nose, do so.
5. Start slow and low — give yourself somewhere to go.
6. Take breaks in the laughter — don’t “freight train” the work. Stop and sigh it out throughout. This also keeps the laughs natural.
7. Make sure the text is understood — this will put focus on the words and not the laughter, and help you treat the laughs lightly. The words matter more.
8. A little bit of hysterical laughing goes a long way — you don’t really need to sell it as hard as you think.
9. Reset with a sigh — a beautiful series of happy exhales of relief can “reset” the body, breath and ribs so you’re ready to move into the next moment.
10. Ramp up slowly — return to natural conversation with your breath supported, and your chest, throat and vowel space open and relaxed.
PRESS HERE FOR A FREE VOICE
YOUR FREE, OPEN VOICE IS IN THE PALMS OF YOUR HANDS
- Stand, say a few lines of something or count just as a test. Yup, there is your normal voice, (maybe it’s a voice you don’t much like).
- Then, press the heels of your hands together quite strongly in front of you. Press them in parallel, not like you are saying a prayer. When you do that, you will feel two little pieces of movement involving your ribs and your pelvic floor.
- Keep pressing (watch you don’t include shoulder effort) and now repeat the lines or count. This time you will “feel” and hear your voice in a new way.
The big jump in improving your vocal skills is learning how to feel your voice. . You will like it more if you understand how it works and can feel it in your bones. Try it. Dx
Julius Caesar could not pronounce his “v”
Why Julius Caesar could not say the sound “v”
Scholars have always believed that his famous phrase “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) was pronounded “weni, widi, wici”. However, scientists now claim humans have only been able to pronounce the letters “v” and “f” relatively recently because our hunter-gathered ancestors had worn down teeth through chewing hard meat and bones. A much softer diet has led to an overbite which allows “v” and “f” sounds by touching the lower lips to the top teeth.
Now, I know that information does not shake your world and it may not be true (and I don’t much care whether it is or not) but I found it an interesting enough thought to share with you.
Full physical and emotional voice work out in 2 minutes
There are heaps of voice exercises out there on social media. I was thinking that one of the things I tell my students and clients is that we must not take our selves too seriously. Voice and speech work should be fun. I have been teaching actors and worrying about how to help them enter the profession, and being very serious. I’ve just seen something on the web that make me laugh. I did the exercises and they work. I want to share them with people who care. I don’t know who posted it but thank you very much.
the very best voice exercise you will ever do
Your best voice is clear, intelligible and effortless. You want people to listen to what you say, not listen to your voice. When you are making a speech, you will feel more confident if you do this exercise about 30 minutes before. Actors love it.
*Slide your tongue, flatly, out of your mouth so it rests on your lower lip. Keep it there as you speak you first one or two sentences. Use your lips so that you can be understood, (you just sound very strange and it is also quite a big effort.) Make sure you don’t push your head forward and that you continue to breathe low. Speak with strong meaning and intention so that you don’t sound like a robot. I should be able to follow you as you do this.
*Then, let the tongue slide back into the bottom of your mouth (where it wants to be) and repeat those same sentences. You will find that, because you have stretched the muscles at the back of the tongue, the tongue is happier, faster, more specific in its movements. You
will feel that it is just so easy to say the words. As Shakespeare said your words will be …..trippingly on the tongue.
Try it and let me know.
VOICE and SPEECH
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT VOCAL BRANDING. WHAT IS IT?
Voice, speech, acting, presentations, self-confidence, voice health – pictures and thoughts on these topics and everything that surrounds them fill my life. I am constantly discussing something with myself. I am a self-blogger. But, today I am going public.
What does the term vocal branding mean?
Our voice and your vocal presence is our Brand. Here is my Brand. 
I spent a considerable amount of money and angst having someone design a brand for me, and it turned out to be just my name! I thought at first it was a little too easy and too self-promoting. (That was poor self-blogging). Then I thought, well that’s the way it is! My brand is my name and experience and expertise. My voice in the world is my brand. While that buzz word might disappear in a year or two, what won’t change is the fact that I see every day that poor communication skills or poor self knowledge can limit our world.
Consider this fact: the moment we speak, our listeners make a quick judgment, (from their personal catalogue of judgements, likes and dislikes), of who we are, and where we stand in the pecking order of their life. They do that little check before they listen to what we are saying. Observe yourself for a short time and catch yourself doing just that.
Our brand (our professional reputation really) is under our control and people in the corporate world seek out professional voice coaches. What limiting elements of your life might a voice coach be able to explain and make disappear? Vocal Knowledge guides us to the next level of personal competence and confidence. What if we stepped up to the self we could be? What would be your brand if you did this?
When I first found my voice, I cried and laughed, and laughed and cried and, even today, many years later, that moment remains an emotional trigger. I can recall it in an instant and feel the wet eyes again. Somewhere at school I learned that to speak out was to invite hurtful retaliation from a very unpleasant teacher. Instead, I learned to be funny and pleasant. That limitation didn’t work for my life of course and so the journey to find my voice began. Finally, I learned that it was ok to speak my own mind : that it was safe for me to speak. That, I now see, was the first step in finding my brand. Searching for my authentic voice was, and still is, challenging, fun and most of all, joyous.
Here are some questions that might interest you? Do you like the sound of your voice? How many voices do you have? (e.g. One for your friends, one for intimate relationships, one for your boss, one that you use when you meet powerful people?) Even reading those terms might cause feelings and reactions. If they do it’s because the answers tend to ask you to consider your value system, and your personal politics. You face these issues when you begin to unearth the narrative about yourself. And, your narrative is likely to be limiting. Do you glimpse a more freeing way of speaking about yourself? How can any of us resist a new narrative? AND it’s all about our breath.
When you walk into a group, how do you sense who is the most powerful person in the room? I suspect you will choose the person who is most deeply and calmly connected with breath. (That brings up the idea of presence, which is for another blog. ) Enough.
Homework: Would you please think of a word that describes your relationship to your voice? Mine is vital but I’ve used that same word for years and I think I should find another. I would be thrilled to know your word. I am a self-conscious first time blogger and need some encouragement. Thank you. D