Total Voice
Express Your Truest Self
by Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Accent Modification, Being Heard, Dialects for Stage, Myth Busters, Professional Speaking, Voice for Stage, Voice Therapy, Voiceover
We all know the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!
Whether you are learning voice and speech skills, a new sport, how to play an instrument, meditation, cooking, knitting or anything else physical, the practice of practice is the key to your success.
The way we practice is even more important than how much time we spend. Research about the brain, cognitive science and motor learning in particular, have taught us a few key concepts:
continue readingby Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Breath Support, Myth Busters, Powerful Speaking, Vocal health, Vocal Injury, Voice Therapy
A friend recently messaged me saying her voice was changing, and had become raspy. She wanted to know if that was normal for someone in their mid-50s.
Nope.
continue readingby Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Myth Busters, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Vocal health, Vocal Injury, Voice for Stage, Voice Therapy, Voiceover
It’s an old saw: Less is more. As with many clichés this one can sometimes be true, especially when it comes to how we use our voice.
Did you know it takes about 100 muscles to utter a phrase of speech? Given that many of these muscles are tiny and impossible to isolate, it’s shockingly easy to be using them with more tension than is necessary.
continue readingby Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Vocal health, Vocal Injury, Voice for Stage, Voice Therapy
Y’all. I have had a lot of clients recently who seem to feel at the mercy of their voice. If they wake up hoarse, that’s it they are hoarse for the whole day. If they start to notice their throat is starting to get tired, they leave the event. If they are asked to repeat themselves, they decide they are unintelligible. If they are sick or hoarse for a day, they sink into it for the week.
These people did not understand they have the power to change these things.
continue readingby Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Myth Busters, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Vocal health, Vocal Injury, Voice Therapy
Everyone gets some form of laryngitis every now and then. Whether it is from illness or from voice use, the cause of the voice loss/hoarseness is pretty much always the same: swollen and irritated vocal cords. Here are some strategies to help.
continue readingby Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Breath Support, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Voice for Stage
Not being heard is frustrating. Not being taken seriously is even more frustrating. Sometimes a stronger, more authoritative voice makes all the difference.
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