0968 – The ‘Tired’ Voice

2023.08.26 – 0968 – The ‘Tired’ Voice Tired voiceSymptom: You sound dull, flat and a little ‘slurry’ as your tongue has trouble forming words.Prescription: ·        A voice will become tired with the amount, volume or the tone of the sound it is being asked to perform (see: ‘vocal loading’ and episode 756). Regulate your speaking so you don’t speak for too long, too loudly. Consider that 10 x 1-minute breaks allow your voice-tissues to recover more effectively than 1 x 10-minute break. (Episode 774 has ‘Voice Advice From Justin Timberlake and Larry Hagman’ on this.) ·        As well as warming-up the voice, don’t forget to warm-down too, to relax the voice into its usual state and not harm it. There are some exercises in episode 928.·        As well as considering and correcting what might be making you anxious mentally, do a ‘condition check’ on yourself physically to see how anxiety has affected how you are holding yourself and how that is affecting the efficiency of your voice-use. Episode 846 is titled ‘Fit Body, Fit Voice’ and may be of interest.·        A voice will also be tired if you are physically or mentally tired. So, have a good night’s sleep and if on a night shift, have an energy boost (being careful to avoid caffeine and sugar energy peaks and troughs, they’re mentioned in episode 853’s ‘Food And Drink Naughty List’). Inevitably, “hydrate, mate!”·        Physical tension (perhaps in a rush to meet a newsroom deadline) will drain your energy so control any temptation to panic. Episode 815 is about how you can achieve Relaxation From Tension Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.