Voice coaching/training?

I have experience of working with several well known "speakers"...people who have been through thraining in how best to communicate in a distinctive way.

One of the key errors many make is to talk far too quickly. Try slowing down. Count the number of words in a passage and time yourself. Aim for 2.5 words a second...any faster is often garbled, hard for the listener to take in and can strain the voice/vocalchords specifically when talking to an audience.

Try to practise and slow it down and then put emphasis in to the key words or phrases that need to be got across.

Fell free to PM me about more detail.

hth

Peter

Hi - i teach singing (classical, operatic style) and am doing my pgce as well (secondary english) so i know how you might come to lose your voice, and a bit about saving it.

it sounds like you don't know how to use it without hurting yourself at the moment. there are a number of things that can contribute to this. for now, i'd say be careful not to take any throat-numbing pastilles when it hurts because you risk doing yourself really lasting damage by powering on when your body's telling you you can't continue. also, try to avoid clearing your throat. some people do it habitually, but it damages the vocal folds. they coat themselves in mucus when they're feeling badly done to. when you clear your throat, it has the effect of sandpapering it off, which hurts your throat more. and of course they will cover themselves in mucus again straight away. when you feel your throat needs clearing, just talk normally (will sound odd at first - perhaps do it in the staff room or the car if the children would be too agog) and it will fade away without you having to clear it.

i don't know what your voice is like, but people use different parts of themselves to create sound. for women, the easiest places for sound to resonate is the soft palate (behind the nose area) and the top of the skull. when you sing, do you have a naturally high voice? i strain my voice when teaching sometimes, because my speaking voice should be about a 5th above where i use it (i'm quite high, i sing kate bush happily much to my husband's entertainment ?) but if i spoke there i'd be ignored.

i hope this is helpful for the moment. a classically trained singer will be able to hear where your voice resonates as soon as you speak, and probably give you some pointers on safe vocal practices, so if you know anyone like that i'd ask them to listen to you. in general, show/pop singers aren't trained in the same way and don't use their voices in the same way so you'd need someone more along the sacred music/opear line. good luck with it!

It sounds like Alexander Technique would work for you. (The technique was developed specifically for this problem).

Check out https://alexandertechnique.com/

Good point, another vote for the alexander technique. be aware, people who teach this always wear floppy trousers ?

Thank you all - I will check that out with or without the baggy trousers!

I love telling stories to the class and using different voices but I don't think that is helping much.

Thanks again