Voice Synergy News
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The most wonderful time of the year
Your voice is a star! The festive season is upon us, bringing good cheer and hope for the future. Yet this season makes a lot of demands on our voices. The weather is cold, dry or wet and windy creating challenges for our lungs and therefore our voices. Indoors, the heating is on, leading to…
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Spooky Halloween
Words that pack a punch or are slightly more sinister owe their effect to the vowels and consonants they use. Halloween is full of creepy clauses, shivering shadows, cackling witches and black cats. Long vowels in laugh, spooky, creepy, ghoul and haunted; short vowels pop out in bats, skulls and blood. Diphthongs hide away in…
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Stage Fright
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” Maggie Smith. Such valuable advice from Maggie Smith, an excerpt from her memoire, You Could Make This Place Beautiful. A few days ago, Maggie Smith, one of the greatest actors of our time, died at the age of 89. Throughout…
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Gen Z giving phones the cold shoulder
Voicemails unheard, calls not returned, the new generation of communicators are avoiding telephone communications in favour of texting. A recent survey by Uswitch found a quarter of people aged 18 – 34 never answer the phone – they either have it turned to silent or ignore the ringing. They may also search the internet for…
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Voices from the Olympics
Over the last couple of weeks, many new voices have been heard on radio and television. The Olympians who have trained, focussed and succeeded in achieving medals have spoken. During epic swimming, cycling, running, gymnastic and equine events, knowledgeable commentators have offered their expertise and opinion as to what is going on. It has been…
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Can our accent be a drawback?
Could our PM have a Brummie accent for example? The English language is full of a wide variety of local accents and all the baggage that goes with it. ‘‘Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?’ go the lyrics in a song from ‘My Fair Lady’ an adaptation of ‘Pygmalian’ by George…
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Voice for Media Interviews
Whether you are the person asking the questions or the person in the ‘hot seat’, answering, your voice is crucial to the success of an interview. Remember to set aside time to warm up your voice before your interview. If your voice is relaxed and flexible, your vocal folds prepared, all will respond more readily…
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Speaking Difficult Words
Have you ever been in a situation where you really wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come out? In our work lives, in our home lives, sometimes we really want to say something, but are unable to find the words to speak because it’s just too difficult to say them. Recently, in…
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It is International Women’s Day on 8 March
Women’s voices have been loud and steadfast through the ages, drawing attention to inequalities through determined resilience. I am fully supportive of women’s voices calling attention to important matters. Women on the international stage such as Michelle Obama (equality), Theresa May (negotiation) and Adele (representation) succeed in this. However, silence and powerlessness often go hand…
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Speaking with clarity
This month I have chosen an image of a duck to convey the crisp, clear sound of ‘K’ contained in words such as ‘Quack’ and ‘Duck’. Over the last few weeks I have been working with a client to help them discover the fabulous sound, ‘K’. Why is it important? The ‘K’ sound, if you…