The Voice Coach Podcast

Now that we know the difference between obstructed and unobstructed sounds and voiced and unvoiced consonants, we'll jump back into the practical side of articulation. This articulation training will make our voice sound clearer. Therefore, we'll be asked to repeat ourselves less often, and we'll save editing time. In other words, this training will save us money. Happy days!What You Will Learn In This Episode:- What are consonant clusters and how can they help our voicing- The different ways of working with consonant clusters- The benefits of overtraining our articulatorsBy adding these exercises to our warmup routine, we'll reduce our pickups while recording, reduce the time we spend in the booth, which in turn will save us money, energy and make our lives easier. The clear voice we always wanted will be waiting just around the corner if we keep our articulators working and responsive. Resources:- More on consonant clusters in the Tongue Training course. https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/tongue-training-course-downloadable/- Join the Voice and Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Downloadable courses to study in your own time https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/#download- Book a call to discuss coming to my voice training retreat https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Follow me on Instagram and share your twister attempthttps://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, we will go through some necessary and exciting theories about sounds. After working with the basics of articulation, release and toning, the next natural step is learning about the sounds of words. In this show, we will divide our speaking sounds into two large groups, vowels and consonants, and we will dive into the mechanics of how these sounds are produced. Hop on and join me in today's entertaining technical interlude. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The difference between obstructed and unobstructed sounds- What are short, long, and sliding vowels, and how we can identify them- What are plosive and fricative sounds, and what is the difference between them- What are voiced and unvoiced fricativesThe main goal of learning to identify the elements of our voicing is to use this information to our advantage and produce lovely, expressing and engaging sounds. This way, we can avoid making annoying sounds on the mic, like extreme explosions from our plosives, which distort our words' sounds. Resources:- Join the Voice and Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- The Vocal Arts Workbook by David and Rebecca Carey https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780713688245?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=CjwKCAiA1aiMBhAUEiwACw25MQoCQN-Bbilj94XuIM6AGBN7LONglde46HhBT_Y-34153484FgIsiBoCm9YQAvD_BwE- Seeing Speech - MRI scans of speech sounds https://www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/- Downloadable courses to study in your own time https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/#download- Book a call to discuss coming to my voice training retreat https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Follow me on Instagram and share your twister attempthttps://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

A cold caught me by surprise during my holidays! So as I'm on the edge of coming back to total health, I decided to dedicate this episode to how to look after your voice during cold and flu season. We will go through some helpful tips to look after your voice and prevent getting ill during the winter season, which has already started here in the U.K. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- How important it is to keep our vocal folds properly hydrated- Keep in mind the importance of a balanced diet and proper rest- The benefits of keeping our throat warm and breathing through the nose- Why certain types of home heating systems and medicines can dry our voiceIt is common to get a cold during the cold season. Still, we can do things to prevent getting sick, and if we get sick anyway, to help us recover faster. A proper warm-up routine, hydration, eating healthy, adequate rest and wearing warm clothes are excellent for preventing a cold.  Resources:- Episode 005 How to stay hydrated https://pod.fo/e/b545d- Episode 001 How to structure your warm up https://pod.fo/e/b48fb- Downloadable courses to help with your warm up https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/#download- Join the Voice and Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Breath by James Nestor https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath- Book a call to discuss coming to my voice training retreat 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 and share your twister attempthttps://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's episode is a special one because I'm recording it directly from my holidays. Our last Ultimate Voice Getaway Retreat helped me realise how important it is to spare some time to stay away from our everyday lives, relax, and focus only on one thing. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- How important it is for our mental, physical, and vocal health to get away and have a breakHaving a break doesn't necessarily mean travelling or taking a week off. We can do it by simply going to a quiet place and just sitting there, enjoying the company of silence and our breathing.Resources: - Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Follow me on Instagram and share your twister attempthttps://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, we will talk about the glorious, joyous, and crowd-pleaser tongue twister. We will go through my tongue twister do’s and don'ts, we will learn what kind of tongue twisters we should pick, which ones to avoid, how often we should change them, and much more.What You Will Learn In This Episode:- Why tongue twisters might feel irrelevant with time- Why we must take time to do our tongue twisters exercises- What kind of tongue twisters we should pick to obtain better results- Why we should avoid doing the same tongue twister for agesTongue twisters are great to help with the clarity of articulation, and they are another fundamental part of the warmup process. We use tongue twisters to energise the sound of our voice, which is helpful when we need to emphasise emotions in the message we are communicating to our listeners. Resources: - Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Follow me on Instagram and share your twister attempthttps://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, it’s time to shake our soft palate a wee bit. We will perform a couple of exploratory exercises to help the soft palate stay flexible and responsive. We will base these exercises on two sounds, focusing on what we feel when we go through them. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- What and where is the soft palate, and what is its function in our voicing- What exercises we should do to ensure our soft palate is awake and ready- The link between high oral resonance and a soft palate that is upWorking on the soft palate is excellent for those who feel their voice is a bit nasal and those who think their voice is adenoidal. Having a responsive and elastic soft palate will also make vocal tone and variety sound better and this is gold, especially for those who do character work. Resources:- Episode 033 Articulation 002: Getting to Know Your Articulators and How They Make Sounds https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/033-articulation-002-getting-to-know-your-articulators/id1551530536 - Episode 038 Articulation 007: Yawning and How it Can Help Your Voice and Articulation https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/038-articulation-007-yawning-and-how-it-can-help-your/id1551530536 - MRI scan of k sound https://www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/#location=107- Join the Voice & Accent Hub https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

This week we are continuing with our toning exercises for the articulators. We will focus on the lips, and I will share one of the most loved exercises I've ever known, the “Pout-Nana Cat's bum-Clown”. We will go through these four exercises to help us gain responsiveness and clarity in the sounds we produce. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- How toning our lips help us improve our voicing- The benefits of the “Pout-Nana-Cat's bum-Clown” exercise and how to perform it correctlyOnce we've mastered the articulators release exercises, focusing on toning them is crucial to enhancing the movement of the muscle groups around them. Working on these specific groups of muscles will help us activate them quicker and more precisely when we need them. Resources:- Join the Voice and Accent Hubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Lip Excersise in Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8E63vup6aA&t=93s- Book: Speaking with Skill by Dudley Knight lhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Speaking-Skill-Introduction-Knight-Thompson-Performance-ebook/dp/B00BHNS5J2- Join the Voice and Accent Hubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthubMentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

In the last few weeks, we covered all we needed to cover on awareness and releasing the articulators. Now it's time to move on, and today we will start learning about toning the articulators. We will begin with the tongue, and we will perform some explorative exercises to master the control of the tongue. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- Why it is crucial to tone our articulators for vocal clarity - A simple and effective routine to tone our tongueWhen we tone our articulators, we train them to basically be capable of jumping into any kind of voice job we need to do. Once they go through a conscious awareness and release work, toned articulators are easier to manipulate and adapt to any kind of voice work. Resources: - Download Tongue Training Weekhttps://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/- Join the Voice and Accent Hubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub Mentioned in this episode:Get my book hereBuy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book here

I'm recording today’s episode on my birthday! We are also coming to the end of Back To Voice School Week, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all the participants, talk a bit about what we have done and what resources are still available for those who missed it. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- What we've done in the Back To Voice School Week- Where you can find videos and extra resources if you missed this one- The power hour one-off sessions available in the Voice & Accent Hub, and how you can get access to them- The Ultimate Voice Getaway #2 is coming up from the 14th to the 17th of October!The Ultimate Voice Getaway is a perfect place to do big, long, gorgeous days of voice work, eating excellent local home-cooked food, lots of walks, and if you want to, doing some cheeky little singsong around the piano. You will also find time and space to give yourself a moment to breathe and exist and nothing else. Resources:- Find the free voice lessons herehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthub- Book a call to discuss coming to my voice training retreat https://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/courses-and-retreats/ultimate-voice-getaway-retreat/- Snaffle one of the limited Power Hour Sessions https://nic-redman.mykajabi.com/power-hour-session?cid=cf280c83-67d5-40aa-88cc-300b99899070- Downloadable courses to study in your own timehttps://nicolaredman.com/voice-coach/#download 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've decided to remind you of the main three things you need to check with your voice before autumn continues. We will go through a few things that you can ask yourself and that you can do to make sure you are in the right place for the rest of the year's lessons. What You Will Learn In This Episode:- The importance of constantly checking our hydration levels- Why checking our alignment before voicing is crucial to have a nice and smooth performance- How to avoid trivialising warmup and prevent lots of headachesThe first days of September are the ideal time to take a step back, breathe, and get ready to crack into the last quarter of the year. After a tough year full of anxiety and uncertainty, take a moment to check your voice, go through the fundamentals and the principles learned so far, tweak, and adjust what needs to be corrected. Resources: - Sign up to Back to (Voice) School Weekhttps://nicolaredman.com/instagram-links/- The Voice & Accent Hubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceandaccenthubMentioned in this episode:Buy Nic's BookHead to onthemicbook.com to get your copy nowGet my book hereGet my book here