Chronic throat clearing can cause throat irritation and hoarseness. There are several possible reasons you might be clearing your throat a lot. Typically it is due either excess mucus or irritation of your vocal cords. Those can come from a variety of sources. Let’s break them down.
continue readingDo you have a weak vocal cord?
Vocal fold weakness (technically called paresis) is a surprisingly common problem, and it can go untreated because it can be difficult to diagnose.
continue readingExamining habits
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (Aristotle)
The way we speak is habitual. The concept of habit runs deeply through the work of voice and speech training. This is especially true in theatre, where the idea moves beyond speech into other elements affecting actors’ performance.
In this post, we are simply dipping a toe into the basics of habits: what they are, why we need them, and how to change them if we wish.
continue readingFifty blog posts on voice, speech, accents, and presence
I just learned that I have made 50 posts on this page over the past few years. These posts cover everything from “diaphragmatic” breathing to allergies to vocal health/injuries to projection to learning accents to hoarseness to owning a room. In case you missed any, here’s a complete list:
continue readingGo ahead and sigh… ahhhhhhhhh
Sighing is a fairly common tool in voice training. Let’s look at why that’s the case, and how it can help you.
continue readingDry or crackly voice? Nebulizers aren’t just for asthma!
So, dear reader, by now you know all about hydration and why it is so important for your voice. And if you’d like a refresher, see my post Why you need to keep your voice moist (That’s right, I said “moist”!). In this current post, I do a deep dive into a powerful tool for keeping your voice healthy: the nebulizer.
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