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Hi everybody,
my name is Justin Stoney and I'm the founder of
New York Vocal Coaching here in New York City.
Welcome to episode 79 of Voice Lessons To The World.
The show where we want to help you as singers
by answering your questions from all over.
And I'll give you a chance to ask questions later.
But our question for this week comes from
Heidi T. in Kolding, Denmark.
And Heidi writes, "Dear Justin, I've heard that if you
can speak it you can sing it.
But what if you don't like the sound of your speaking voice?"
Now Heidi this is just a spectacular question.
Because you're right, there's a lot of crossover
between singing and speech.
But we don't want to just have a great speaking voice for our singing.
A speaking voice can be great for our social life,
for our professional life, and just our confidence as a person.
It's really important to have that crisp, clear, healthy speaking voice.
So today we're going to look at some tips that
will help you to get the speaking voice
that you've always dreamed to have.
Which, is not that one...
[Hits piano]
That's right, 7 tips, that are going to help you
to master your speaking voice.
So the first one is identifying vocal tensions.
So many of the issues with our speaking voice
result from a tension in the physical body.
So it's important to identify what those tensions are
and work through them.
First, is just our alignment and our posture.
A lot of times we sit at a desk or computer
or piano all day and we get into this sort of slumping.
Or we overcompensate by arching the back.
You need to make sure that your spine
can find that neutral, tall, relaxed alignment.
Next is the neck.
The neck can hold a lot of tension,
particularly in the sternocleidomastoid muscles.
These long guys hold a lot of tension
and they can really put pressure
on the larynx and the vocal cords.
So you want to be able to stretch
side to side and up and around,
to be aware and eliminate some of that neck squeezing
that we feel sometimes.
Also, the jaw and the tongue.
The jaw needs to be able to release just like this.
And also to be able to be moved.
But yet we find that very difficult to do.
Sometimes there's so much jaw tension you really need to
massage it or move it around to really get in there.
The other place is the tongue, as weird as this may be.
It's super good to stretch the tongue side-to-side and out and in.
Really getting the root and the base of the tongue
some freedom that it doesn't ordinarily have.
Finally the breath can even have tension.
If you try a simple shh-shh you shouldn't
feel a lot of squeezing in the abs or ribs.
Not this kind of thing...
Shhh.
But a...
Shhhh.
The breath can flow.
And if all of that can happen, free spine, free neck,
free jaw and tongue and breath that can flow
you're already in a great place to set up a good speaking voice.
Now next let's talk about speaking within your range.
A bigger problem than people realize
is that they're not actually speaking in their own range.
I mean what's the problem?
I mean this is my speaking voice this is how I always talk.
So I don't understand why is my voice getting so tired all the time?
I mean I just don't get it, my voice is always getting so tired
and I just don't know why!
A lot of times were identifying with a voice that's not
actually quite our own.
Too deep, when really we want some higher pitches in the sound.
Or too high when we really want some more depth in the sound.
Make sure that you haven't gotten yourself pigeon holed
into a voice that's too deep for you or too high for you.
Doesn't matter the reason, but experiment with some sounds
that you wouldn't think are you
and you might find a different kind of
freedom to your voice than you've never had before.
Next let's talk about overcoming a nasal sounding voice.
Maybe the biggest complaint that people
have about their speaking voice, Heidi,
is that it sounds too nasal.
Now we've talked a lot on the show about how
that nasal sound is actually twang.
It's a bright formant that's caused by the larynx
and the squeeze of the cords and not by the nose itself.
If I wanted to give you a nasal sound
I would make you an offer you can't refuse.
But a truly bright sound that people are usually complaining about,
That's from the larynx and the cords.
So a great fix for that is the classic yawn.
Trying a yawn, feeling the laryngeal depth,
and then speaking through that yawn, alright
Saying sentences through the deeper, more open space.
Now obviously this is not my final product.
But getting some of those colors
and some of that depth and experience
will help to balance out the brighter sounds
that one might be struggling with.
Next, let's talk about the vocal fry.
I mean what's up with that?
The vocal fry is one of the most
talked about trends in all of modern speech.
It's very common among young people,
among women, among young women,
and I mean it's like whatever.
I mean it's like short vocal folds
and a little bit of vocalis but whatever.
I mean it's like limited breath flow but whatever.
I mean I could explain it to you more but it's like whatever.
This topic has been talked about and written about
by so much of the media.
And the real question is, is it as bad for you as everybody says?
And the answer is yes and no.
It's not as bad as people say because
it's a natural register of the voice.
And it can actually be good for you
as far as finding a light closure to the cords.
But the real problem is the length and duration
that people are speaking with this coordination.
If you're talking like this all day long,
you're really going to wear out the
edges of the cords because of doing one thing
to the vocal folds all day long.
So that actually leads us to our next point,
one of the best possible things that you can do
for your speaking voice and your vocal health,
which is to find vocal variety.
Voiceover artists know all about vocal variety.
You don't read a copy and say,
finally 100% juice for older kids introducing new J-Max from Juicy Juice.
The intense tasting, 100% juice with no added sugar and lots of vitamin C.
Finally 100% juice for older kids introducing new J-Max from Juicy Juice.
The intense tasting, 100% juice with no added sugar and lots of vitamin C.
You know to keep your voice moving.
And a lot of people complain about having
a boring voice, a monotone voice.
Not only is it going to make
your voice more interesting to listen to,
but it's healthier to move it up and down.
It keeps you in different vocal coordinations.
We know this with our body.
We don't want to be stiff and rigid,
we want to stay moving, be agile, be flexible,
that's good for our body and same thing is true with the voice.
Keeping it moving throughout the day,
it's one of the best things for your vocal health.
And on that note let's talk about some other
vocal health tips for your speaking voice.
To keep your speaking voice at optimal health,
we just need to go over a few items.
First of all, rest.
Getting a good night's sleep can really help the vocal folds
and the muscles to repair themselves.
Next is hydration.
Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Your body needs to stay hydrated but
your vocal folds' vibration relies on moisture.
So if you drink water it's going to help your vocal production.
Also your diet.
Watch out for foods that cause acid and acid reflux.
You'll find out what those foods are if you watch
our episode on the singer's diet.
Try to stay away from those foods
that cause you problems.
Also, exercise.
This is one of the things that's going
to eliminate some of those vocal tensions.
Particularly yoga and stretching can help you
stay in prime shape to use your voice.
And last but not least, avoid talking over loud crowds.
If you're at bars or places where there's
loud music or big crowds,
this is really one of the biggest vocal killers.
Try to avoid those situations,
stand closer to people if you are in those situations,
or use your nasal resonance
so that your sound cuts through the crowd better.
But that's a really big killer
so watch out for those situations.
Our last speaking voice tip for the day is,
to be who you are.
I've had students come to me who have had vocal nodes
because their mom told them that they were too effeminate.
And they tried to speak down here.
I've had people that were told that they shouldn't speak.
Or that they sounded ugly when they speak.
Or that they sounded dumb when they speak.
Or that they really never had anything good to say at all.
And sometimes people are so wrapped up with anger
and so wrapped up with fear
and so wrapped up with what's caught in their mind
that they cannot speak the way that they were meant to.
I'm here to tell you that your voice is beautiful.
Your voice is special.
Your voice is a huge part of who you are.
So whoever it was that told you that you shouldn't speak,
that you couldn't speak, or that you won't speak,
I'm here to tell you that they are wrong.
And everything that's special about your voice
needs to and must come flying out.
So please follow these tips, Heidi and all,
and know the value of your speaking voice
for your life, for your singing,
and for everything that you do.
So I hope that's been helpful for you guys today as singers.
If you've got questions that you'd like to see us answer on the show,
you can send an email to Questions@VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
So I just encourage you don't lose that joy,
don't lose that passion, don't let people tell you
that you your speaking voice is anything but beautiful.
And get with a great voice teacher or speech coach in your area. [♪]
Or you can check out www.NewYorkSpeechCoaching.com [♪]
Our staff has speech coaches that work with [♪]
public speech, with accent reduction, [♪]
with helping artists and people to discover the [♪]
potential of their speaking voice. [♪]
So check that out and maybe work with one of our staff members. [♪]
You can also download the Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course [♪]
if you're looking for a vocal course to do at home. [♪]
This is a 12-part course that takes you [♪]
on a journey from beginner to master. [♪]
You can find that at www.VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com. [♪]
Also, for free daily vocal tips you can sign up at [♪]
DailyVocalTips.com. [♪]
I'm Justin Stoney. [♪]
Until next time, make a joyful noise. [♪]
♫ Meow meow meow meow ♫