Does your voice get tired after talking on Zoom or other virtual platforms for a long
time? If yes, then maybe you are experiencing vocal zoom fatigue. In this video, I am going
to explain what vocal zoom fatigue is and how to prevent your voice from getting tired.
And if you stay, I will tell you where to get more help with your vocal issues. So,
keep on watching.
Hi I am Katarina, speech language pathologist
and here on this channel, I share practical tips about using your voice in a healthy way.
So, if this is a topic that interests you, consider subscribing to this channel and hitting
that bell notification icon so that you don't miss any of my future videos.
So, first of all: What is vocal zoom fatigue? You ve probably heard about zoom fatigue because
many of us spend more time on virtual platforms than ever before. Zoom fatigue is a new term
and it refers to feeling mentally and physically exhausted when spending a substantial amount
of time on video conferencing platforms. Vocal zoom fatigue is also a new term, which is
used among voice professionals and it refers to a feeling of being vocally tired after
using your voice on virtual platforms. I can very much relate to vocal zoom fatigue.
Back in March, when I started to use Zoom and other virtual platforms more than ever
before in my life, I also experienced vocal fatigue. I had to changes things because I
was not able to do my job. I already made a video on the topic of vocal fatigue, and
I will put a link to that video below, so I thought I was prepared. But the truth is
that this is a new phenomenon and the research does not know much about talking or singing
on virtual platforms and how it affects vocal health. So, I had to find my own ways and
solutions and I am going to share some of them with you in this video.
First, what are zoom vocal fatigue symptoms? Here are some examples of tired voice symptoms:
the voice quality declines during speaking or singing, your voice may get progressively
hoarse or breathy. You can even loose your voice at some point. Or, you may need to exert
more vocal effort to achieve the same level of voice use. You may even experience pain
in your throat. Basically, if your voice becomes progressively weaker and you are unable to
perform vocal tasks that you were able to do in the morning, you may be experiencing
voice fatigue symptoms. The first question I asked myself was: Do
we really get more tired when talking or singing on video platforms compared to face-to-face
communication? And if so, why is that? As I said before, the research does not know
yet, but we know that people who use non-face-to-face means of communication such as call centre
workers are very prone to vocal health problems, and they have been clients of voice clinics
for years. So, we can learn from them. Here is my opinion: The way we use our voices
on video conferencing platforms is different from voice use in one-to-one communication.
The difference is not only the amount of time we spend talking, but most importantly it
is the quality of voice production we use. On video conferencing platforms, we are missing
a lot of communication signals and cues that the person on the other side heard us or understood,
so we adjust the way we speak accordingly. We do everything possible to make ourselves
understood by the other party. We change the way we speak or sing.
This change includes not only loudness but also pitch, rate, and duration of syllables.
We use more breath pressure to be louder, which puts more strain on the vocal folds.
We use more muscle effort. We use more exaggerated articulation, facial expressions, which may
tire our muscles needed for speaking and singing. Luckily, there are many things we can do to
change that. Here are 3 tips to avoid vocal fatigue when speaking or singing on the virtual
platforms like zoom. Of course, there are many more tips so if you need more help with
your vocal issues, join our free FB group called Breathing Room for Voice, where you
can ask more questions. Click the link in the description below and request access.
Tip #1 Keep The Vocal Folds Hydrated Hydration is a very obvious tip. It s the
basic vocal hygiene rule whether you speak or sing online or offline. But let me just
tell you why hydration is so important to prevent vocal fatigue. Our vocal folds are
covered with a thin layer of mucus. In order for the vocal folds to work with most efficiency,
the mucus has to be of a certain viscosity or thickness. Good hydration makes the mucus
thin and pliable so that your vocal folds can work most efficiently. If you are not
well hydrated, your voice has to work extra hard. Then add the other demands on the voice,
such as the length of voice use, emotions or increased loudness and your vocal folds
just have to work beyond their capacity. You can hydrate in two ways drinking plenty
of fluids and steaming. If you are having vocal fatigue issues or if you are a professional
voice user, you should be steaming every day. I personally steam every morning for 5 minutes.
It s part of my morning routine. If my voice feels tired, I steam even more frequently.
You can use a personal steamer or have a hot shower instead, or go to a steam room or use
a pot of boiled water, just be careful not to burn yourself. Steaming is the easiest
way to hydrate because the steam gets into direct contact with your vocal folds.
Tip #2 Change Your Body Position I believe that alignment plays a huge role
in how our voices can perform. The problem is that we are mostly unaware of our bodies.
So, what happens when we are on virtual platforms? We usually sit, our sitting posture is not
optimal, we slouch, we move our head forward, and we are guilty of many other postural sins.
The very first step in changing our body alignment is to become aware. If you are spending a
lot of time on the computer or your phone, be very mindful of your posture. Check in
with your posture regularly. I personally, invested a lot of time figuring this out.
So, I have a little stand for my computer, so that the camera is at my eye level. I don
t need to bend my head or move it forward or look up at the monitor. I often change
my position, sometimes I sit, sometime I stand. I also have a Pilates ball that I sit on while
working to improve my posture. After every virtual session or after sitting
for a prolonged period of time, I stand up, I stretch and I give myself a little bit of
massage. It s a simple and fast way to release tension from your neck, shoulders and voice.
It takes only a few minutes and it s really effective. You can find more videos on releasing
tension and vocal massage on my channel for more details.
Tip #3 Don t Talk Too Loud Have you heard about the Lombard reflex? It
is an involuntary tendency of speakers or singers to increase their vocal effort when
using their voice in loud noise to enhance the audibility of their voice. We can apply
this concept to talking or singing virtually because we are trying to be understood by
listeners on the other side. So, what can you do to change it? First of
all, become aware of how loud you are. No need to raise your voice on Zoom. Instead,
ask the other person to turn up their volume on the computer. You can use good microphone
and headphones to improve the audio quality. Make sure that you are video conferencing
in a quiet room, where you don t need to compete with outside noise.
You can also adjust the way you use your voice. The goal is to decrease breath pressure under
the vocal folds to minimize the impact but still make your voice strong and audible with
a lot of resonance. Learn techniques that make your voice stronger without increasing
breath pressure. For example, improving overall resonance, adding brightness to strengthen
the higher frequencies in your voice, adding a little bit of twang, reducing nasality and
other strategies. BONUS TIP
How do you know when you crossed that line between healthy voice use and vocal fatigue?
If a vocal task makes you feel an itch, scratch and tickle, makes you cough or clear throat,
you know that you used too much vocal effort. Your voice is telling you to stop, take a
break or change the way you are producing the sound. It s as simple as that.
If you found this video helpful, click the like button and share it with your friends.
In my next video, I will be sharing more tips on how to keep your voice healthy and happy.
So, stay tuned by clicking that subscribe button so that you get notified when a new
video is out. I hope to see you in my next video. Bye.