Total Voice

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Professional Speaking

Your “tone” might be making you look bad at work

by Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Breath Support, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking

“Don’t use that tone with me!”

“Your performance is good, but there is an issue with your tone.”

“Did you hear that tone in his voice?!”

We communicate tons of information with the tone of our voice. It’s so powerful that if there is incongruence between the tone we use and the words we say, people will believe the tone over the words. Imagine all the ways someone might say, “I’m fine” in a tone that makes it clear they are not, in fact, fine.

A lot of people find their way to me as a coach because they have gotten feedback about their tone being a problem. Let’s look at what that means and how you might choose to adjust it.

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Why you need to keep your voice moist (That’s right, I said “moist”!)

by Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Myth Busters, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Vocal health, Vocal Injury, Voice for Stage, Voice Therapy

Sometimes the most important things in life are also the simplest. Being well hydrated is one of the most meaningful things we can do to care for our vocal cords and voice, and yet it is so easy to let it slide.

Your voice requires hydration to work optimally. Here’s why and how. 

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The hidden cost of not hearing live voices

by Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Voice for Stage, Voice Therapy

It struck me recently like a lightning bolt: I miss live voices. For almost a year, the vast majority of voices I have heard have come through a speaker. Quarantine has resulted in very little in-person conversation for me, even less without the auditory filter of a mask.

While electronic speakers convey enough auditory information for us to comprehend the words, they do cut out some of the acoustic spectrum so we are hearing only a piece of the true voice coming though them. We get the information and lose some nuance. But there is much more to the problem.

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Kick “stage fright” to the curb in 3 simple steps

by Kate DeVore
Filed Under: Being Heard, Owning the Room, Powerful Speaking, Professional Speaking, Stage Fright

Sweaty palms. Dry mouth. Tight throat, Shallow breathing. Pounding heart. Tense shoulders. Butterflies in the stomach. 

Do you recognize any of these common elements of stage fright? Congratulations! You are a human!

Now that you have passed the emotional CAPTCHA test, let’s talk more about how these effects of stress and anxiety affect our performance, and what we can do about it.

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