Voice Care: A Bunch of Hooey?
Before I cover more on interviewing techniques and follow-up on some concerns you have expressed related to interviewing, I’m going to pause to talk about voice care.
I wasn’t going to cover this at the moment, because it is so difficult to talk about looking after the voice without sounding precious and preachy. Before the no-smoking laws changed in the UK, I rarely went to pubs (especially on weekdays) because of the smoke, and when I did I would be complaining about the effect the smoke was having on my voice. All my friends used to roll their eyes as if to say “here she goes again!” I know it sounds overly cautious, but I knew that my voice sounded different the following day.
The same could be said for catching colds – voiceovers treat people with colds like they have the plague! It can ruin the quality of your work for days, and sometimes weeks. You may sound sexily husky at times following a cold, but if that isn’t your usual sound then it isn’t much use because you can’t maintain it.
The attitude of many people who rely on their voice for their work – podcasters, public speakers, teachers – is “speaking is speaking, why should I do anything different to anyone else when we all talk every day?”
The difference is that you rely more on your voice, you use your voice in a different way to the average person in the street, and you need to maintain it so that your voice never lets you down. And, as I’ve learned from experience – in the words of Joni Mitchell – you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone! Your voice is a tool or instrument, and just as you would look after any tools you need for work, you should do the same with your voice. In fact, you should be more careful with your voice - you can replace a computer or a car or a hammer, but you can’t replace your larynx!
There are preventative measures you can take to avoid problems with your voice such as not smoking, keeping healthy (avoid those cold and flu germs), not coughing/clearing your throat excessively, and not shouting too much. There are also things you can do to improve your voice such as drinking lots of water, steaming your vocal chords (I’ll explain that one tomorrow), and performing warm-up exercises before speaking.
And if you do get voice problems? Even the most careful professional speakers still experience problems with their voices – sometimes they are unavoidable. By taking care of your voice you may not be able to avoid problems altogether but you will be more aware of what is happening with your voice, so you can catch those problems early and seek professional help if necessary.
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