The Voice Coach Podcast

Have you noticed that you never run out of breath in the middle of a sentence, but you do when you have to record a long-phrase written by somebody else? In today's episode, I'll reveal why this happens and I'll share three exercises that will help you get to the end of any phrase with plenty of air in your lungs. What You Will Learn In This Episode:Why it is that we run out of breath when recording words we haven't written ourselvesThe link between our thoughts and breathingWhy it’s okay to breathe in the middle of a thoughtThree exercises to synchronise your breathing with the length of the phrases you need to recordWhen the breath comes in, it acts as fuel for the thought we are building in our minds. In other words, the breath is as important in the communication process as the thoughts and the words themselves. Resources:Receive my newsletter to get first dibs on the new brilliant thing I've made… https://nicolaredman.com/newsletter/Talking Voice Training with Barbara Houseman - Part 2 https://pod.fo/e/10979bBreath support episodes for further study: 015 How to Use Your Breath Part 2: Focusing on the Out-Breath https://pod.fo/e/c147a016 How to Use Your Breath Part 3: What is Breath Support https://pod.fo/e/c2c37017 How to Use Your Breath Part 4: Connecting with Breath Support for Speaking https://pod.fo/e/c45ac020 How to Use your Breath Part 5: Connecting the Voice to Breath Support https://pod.fo/e/c90ecOne Voice Conference: https://www.onevoiceconference.com/ Join the FREE Mastering Your Vocal Warm Up Masterclass Mastering Your Vocal Warm up - Free Masterclass - Nic RedmanJoin the Vocal Empowerment Programme waiting list https://bit.ly/empowermyvoiceBook an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat Consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

Today, I'll answer one of the questions I get a lot during my one-on-one coaching sessions: how do I know what to do during my warm up? Although the answer is quite simple: awareness, it leads to three less simple things we should be aware of to perform the perfect warm up for us. After listening to this episode, you'll know what you need to be mindful of to perform the warm up your voice needs. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- What a warm up really is and what you should expect from it- Your voice's needs might vary from one day to another, so the warm ups should also change according to that- The kind of voice gig you must perform is crucial to deciding what type of warm up you’ll useBeing aware of the kind of warm up you need is crucial to producing beautiful, efficient and on-point voicing. If you are interested in getting autonomy over your warm ups, join my free Mastering Your Vocal Warm Up Masterclass on Tuesday, April 26th at 7:30 BST (British Summer Time).Resources:- Join the FREE Mastering Your Vocal Warm Up Masterclass Mastering Your Vocal Warm up - Free Masterclass - Nic Redman- Join the Vocal Empowerment Programme waiting list https://bit.ly/empowermyvoice- Book an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat Consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

This week, I'll share some tips to take care of and get your voice ready for outdoor speaking. I'll separate them into two groups, the first one for taking care of your voice, and the sendo one for your performance and delivery. After listening to this episode, you'll be able to keep your voice sharp and ready to use, and you'll learn to rely on your body to improve the sound of your voice.What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The differences between speaking outdoors and indoors - The massive benefits of warming up and staying hydrated for outdoors speaking- Being louder doesn't guarantee being heard- The sounds vs. the volume of your voice- How alignment can improve the quality of your outdoors voiceWhen speaking outdoors, remember that being heard is not a byproduct of speaking louder; it is more about finding the right pitch, paying attention to the sounds of your voice and being mindful of your alignment. Resources:- Join the Vocal Empowerment Programme waiting list https://bit.ly/empowermyvoice- Book an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat Consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

Sometimes, we might find it challenging to get our mouth around certain words, or during a recording session, we keep on stumbling over the same words, and we feel strongly about throwing the microphone out the window. So, to prevent us from unleashing our frustration on our recording setup, I'll share three fun articulation exercises that'll help us develop clarity in our speech and keep our sanity up to date. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The multiple benefits of the slug tone exercise and how VOs can apply it into their routines- How to find more space in our mouth and get an active, responsive tongue using one finger- How to activate all the articulation muscles in our face using the "through the chippy window" exerciseThese exercises are designed to make things harder to make them feel easier. Even if they feel hard to perform, they'll make our voicing easier and smoother. Have fun with them!  Resources:- Join the Vocal Empowerment Programme waiting list: https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/vocal-empowerment-programme/ - Book an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here

This week, we'll explore how consonants feel on their own, using the same words we used to explore vowels in the previous episode, using feet, mouth, syllable, and of course, the fragment of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Just as with the vowels, we'll explore the sounds, not the letters, and the different sound combinations they produce when pronounced together. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- How different qualities of fricative and plosive sounds feel in the mouth- How to evaluate which consonants' sounds feel valuable by putting the vowels back in- Using consonants to emphasise the essential parts of our speech Consonants' sounds are vital to adding clarity to the words of our speech. Even when making serious announcements in the corporate world, we can voice our speech in a compelling, engaging and expressive way by paying attention to how we produce those sounds. Resources:- Book an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here

In today's episode, we'll go through a wonderfully ridiculous exercise on exploring the sounds of vowels. We'll exercise with mono and multisyllabic words, and then tie them together in a sentence. This exercise is beneficial for those moments when we feel disconnected from the words we are voicing, or when we’re reading something we might find boring or simply disagree with. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- How to effectively connect with our speech to create authentic communication- Why we need to reconnect with words we use too often, to make any speech sound more enticing- The difference between long and short vowels sounds and how to manipulate the sounds to emphasise the writer's messageExploring the vowels' sounds provides the speaker with a real sense of emotions’ flow of every line they read. If vowels are the river that conducts the words' feelings, we connect with the writer’s feelings and their intention in writing those lines by generating a genuine connection with the text.Resources:- Book an Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat consultation https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Finding Your Voice by Barbara Houseman https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1854596594/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1854596594&linkCode=as2&tag=voicecoachpod-21&linkId=df5298ea303c367b2899af3803c0dc92- The Verbal Arts Workbook by David & Rebecca Carey https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1408123460/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1408123460&linkCode=as2&tag=voicecoachpod-21&linkId=f707ffd8350807f0d913bb57e08a9e06- Voicework by Christina Shewell https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470019921/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0470019921&linkCode=as2&tag=voicecoachpod-21&linkId=6a74c872723adf15964131b8484accab- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here

This week, after the Christmas, podcast birthday and Valentine's Day's hiatus, we get straight back into the step-by-step voice training process. We’ll pick up right where we left back in episode 48 to start with sound shaping. In this episode, we'll revisit what consonants and vowels are and what they mean to us from a speech perspective. We’ll also explore how to exploit vowels and consonants' sound structures and energy in our favour to add volume, emotional connection, expression and clarity to our speech. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- There are more than five vowels in spoken language, and the number varies according to our language and accent- The differences between vowels and consonants from a speech perspective- The effects of a speech that is more consonant or vowel heavy on the listener, and why it should be balancedKeeping an audience engaged depends not only on the message's content but also on how it's communicated. A perfectly articulated speech without emotion would be as disengaging as a discourse full of emotion without clarity. Therefore, we should balance the feelings expressed in the vowels with the clarity and understanding provided by the sound of the consonants. Resources:- Join the Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat waiting list https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Episode 48 How Practising Consonant Exercises Can Save You Money: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/048-how-practising-consonant-exercises-can-save-you-money/id1551530536 - Episode 33 Articulation 002: Getting to Know Your Articulators and How They Make Sounds: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/033-articulation-002-getting-to-know-your-articulators/id1551530536 - Book: Barbara Houseman - Finding Your Voice: A Step-by-Step Guide for Actors: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Barbara-Houseman/dp/1854596594 - Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here

Today's episode, on Valentine's Day, is all about love. I'll share three tips to fall in love with your voice again and leave aside the mean comments and opinions that might be making you dislike the sound of your own voice. We'll explore the science behind why most of us don't enjoy the sound of our voice, the influence of society and media on what we think of our voice and the best way to deal with critics of our voicing capabilities. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The stereo plus one mode in which we hear our voice and how it influences what we think of our voicing- The importance of being aware of the unconscious bias that society and the media imprints on us when we critique our voice- Why we need to be kind to ourselves and observe the relevance we give to other people’s' opinions of how we sound- How to ask questions to generate positive and encouraging opinions of our voicing, and the healthiest way to deal with criticismThere is a difference between adjusting particular features of our voice based on the opinion of a producer or a specific requirement for a job, and someone else's misophonia. We must focus on the information that helps us improve our voicing and move forward from there. Everyone else's opinion of how our voice sounds is nothing more than that - their one opinion. Resources:- Join theUltimate Voice Getaway Retreat waiting list - https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/ - Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

In this episode, we'll do a little recap on warm-ups. We'll go through five questions that will help us structure our warm-up routine and create one that won't tire or bore us and that we'll find fun to do. For those new to the show, or those who don't know how to get your voices ready for work, you'll get a good feeling of what a proper warm-up should be, and for those who already know and feel they have a slick warm-up routine, this episode will help you make your routine slicker.What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The points every warm-up routine should touch and stimulate- The importance of staying curious and raising our awareness towards the exercises we include in our warm-up- Why it is crucial we pay attention to the length of our warm-ups - Why we need to make sure we enjoy our warm-up routine- How we should feel after every warm-up, before starting our voice workWarm-ups shouldn't be too long or repetitively tedious, nor the same exact routine we've been doing for the last 18 years. They shouldn't be too long to avoid getting unnecessarily tired, and it should adjust to the changes of our voice over time. Resources:- Episode 001 How to structure your voice warm-uphttps://pod.fo/e/b48fb - Join the Voice & Accent Hubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicredvoice/Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here

Today's episode is the last part of our interview with Barbara Houseman, and it is also the closing of the celebrations for our first year together. We dive deep into voiceover and podcasting lands in this second part of our lovely encounter. Barbara shared golden nuggets and practical examples on prepping the voice for microphone work, conversational read, resonance, female-identifying people playing male, and vice versa, and breathing while reading long phrases. In This Episode, You Will Learn:- Why we should get rid of the word "conversational" when we talk about finding authenticness- Where directing and voice recording collide and why it is not possible to do both- One thought, one breath - Barbara's advice for voiceover artists facing multiple lines sentences - What we can do to prep our voice for mic speakingI hope you enjoyed and found very useful the chats with amazing voice experts such as Barbara Houseman and Dane Chalfin during the podcast birthday celebrations! Now back to voice work and I’ll see you next week.  Resources:- Final call! Join The Vocal Empowerment Course Now: https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/vocal-empowerment-programme/ - Barbara Houseman website: https://www.barbarahouseman.com/ - Barbara Houseman Books: https://www.barbarahouseman.com/about - Nicola Harrision - Embodema https://www.nicolaharrison.co.uk Mentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here