VOXFIT™ BIG NEWS!!
May 5, 2019
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SHOUT OUT to all my amazing #fitpro friends as well as those amazing fitpros I haven’t met…YET! I’m SO excited to announce that VOXFIT™ is featured on the FITNESS CAREER MASTERY PODCAST—Episode 79. Check out the link (http://fitnesscareermastery.com/episode79) for a full listen of “Learning Proper Care of Your Voice” including LOTS of great topics related to VOICE, specific to fitness instruction! Doing the podcast was seriously SO much FUN and I could’ve easily shared information and chatted with Shay for hours!! I am incredibly grateful to @barryennisbe and @shaykostabi, hosts of such an excellent podcast, for featuring me (and VOXFIT™). I absolutely love the fact that we share the same passions related to fitness and the importance of educating and training fitpros on VOICE.
I created my business out of an incredible passion to merge the medical and occupational worlds of VOICE because my own extensive experience in both of these worlds “told” me this was necessary. I am truly thankful that my mission, passion, and purpose has become a reality and I am able to help fitpros positively impact and inspire others through healthy, efficient, dynamic, and FIT voices. The show notes of the podcast are wonderful (check them out on their website!), but see below for some of my takeaways!
1) Remember and accept the absolute TRUTHS that your VOICE is your instrument…and YOU are a vocal athlete. Treat your voice as such: care for it, honor it, and use it in the most optimal ways possible in all settings (casual speaking voice, performance/teaching voice, “social” voice, “work” voice, the voice you talk to the dog with, etc.). It is the same instrument and sub-optimal vocal use patterns in one setting will soon catch up with you in all the others. Learn all you can about your voice--what it looks like (get a baseline scope), how it functions, and how to ensure it's in top shape. Your voice is your “audible business card”!
2) Hydration: Water (half of your body weight in ounces or more), Humidification, and Steam (or even better—an ultrasonic nebulizer).
3) Eliminate throat clearing (it is a complete slam of your vocal folds and will create a vicious cycle of irritation); Substitute a hard swallow, multiple swallows, sips of water, and/or use of a throat lozenge (without menthol) instead.
4) Consider the use of reflux precautions to prevent the negative impact of acid on the delicate tissues of your vocal folds.
5) Create a vocal schedule specific to your daily life. Evaluate your vocal demands and actually pencil in times in your day where it is possible to take “vocal naps”. Determine if there are vocal demands you can decrease or eliminate so your voice will be reliable for your essential voice duties.
6) Get your voice OUT of your throat. Use air to support your voice and aim to speak FORWARD with resonance versus backward with effort. Pay attention to your casual speaking voice as these habits and patterns can dramatically impact the voice overall. WARM UP your voice before teaching class(es). Use circumlaryngeal massage and/or muscle tension release to manage tension in the voice box (larynx) area.
7) ALWAYS use amplification when instructing class. Perform a mic check and test sound and calibration before your class(es).
8) Create a journey with your voice and an experience within each class. Use several aspects of “VOCAL SPICE” as appropriate during your class(es). This will enhance client connection and relationships as well as retention. Look out for a new blog post soon on "vocal spice"!
9) Use your Authentic Voice (AV)—your “inner you” voice coupled with a healthy, efficient, dynamic physical voice will effortlessly carry your message, mission, and passion out to your clients and the world. Your authenticity will make the clients FEEL something, and this creates connection.
10) VOXFIT is here to help you and will focus on providing education, training, coaching, and therapy (if needed) to help you achieve optimal vocal health, efficient voice use (in all settings), and dynamic vocal delivery (for monumental class experience and client connection).
Have a listen, and reach out if you have any questions… CHEERS to “Voices Fit to Inspire”!
