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February
1st, 2009
Find your natural
dynamic speaking
voice and maintain it!
| Vocal Tip of the Month! |
Listen
To Yourself ;)
The sound of your voice helps shape how your words are perceived and
how your overall personality comes across. In order to find
your
natural dynamic speaking voice, it is important to find self-awareness
through attentive listening. This will allow two
important
steps to take place: First, point out your flaws to better
correct
them and second, find and love your true natural dynamic speaking or
singing voice.
Most people are somewhat mistaken as to what they truly sound like.
This is because the resonance of one's voice reverberating
within
the walls of its instrument can be quite overwhelming in comparison to
how frequencies travel once they leave the limited space of the
body. Listening from within can therefore be misleading.
Who hasn't experienced a bit of a surprise after hearing
oneself
for the first time on a voice mail message or on video for
example?
This is therefore what I'm coming to for this month's vocal tip: record
yourself and take position on what you really sound like and should
improve. Locate pleasing sounds and focus on
developing
that. Identify weaknesses and work on placing the voice
correctly in the mask. Then, embrace the real you and get
accustomed to your natural beautiful voice.
Recording yourself is fairly easy. It can be done using a
tape
recorder but for tech savvy people like myself, recording on a computer
is more convenient. Get yourself a decent mic (they start at
approximately $40.00) and download the FREE music recording software
below that will allow you to save and manipulate your files:
www.kreative.com
Experiment, analyze and record your progress. Be receptive to
your own impressions and honest constructive comments. Share
your
files with other people for second opinions. Keep your voice
in
check by recording yourself often. I will be happy to give
you my
opinion may you want to send me your recording with a question!
Good luck :)
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Interesting
Facts
Chakras
In Indian cultures, there is an energy system called Chakras that
attributes certain energy flows to specific parts of our
body. Interestingly enough, there is a chakra located in the
throat. It is connected with the ability to communicate one's
thoughts but also to perceive others. It is a portal
to inner and outer communication. Chakras are often pictured as a lotus
in which the energy vortex spins at different speeds depending on one's
physical and emotional state. The throat chakra is seen as a
deep blue color and is associated with the element of ether or
sound.* It makes sense to see how the voice
connects to our emotions and health under that perspective. One might feel chocked up when sad or
under stress for example.
A way to restore the energy flow of the chakra is to put your hand
above that center and move it in a clockwise motion above the throat
for a few seconds until you feel the heat emanating from your body on
that spot. Continue moving your hand slowly against the
chakra as to pick up the negative energy affecting the spinning
current. Then, throw it out away from your body.
*Constance Rodriguez. Gifts of the Soul,
Llewellyn Publications, p 57.
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| What's Happening? |
Starting
Fresh...
My
life has been in a little bit of turmoil lately as I have
decided a
few months ago to change it around and start anew. I have
ended a 16 year old relationship that is inevitably affecting my
professional life. Hence, I'm still
working on completing my book even though I feel like my hectic life is
getting in the way. As a result, the revision process has stalled and is taking a little more time then expected.
I'm confident however, that I will soon be able to dedicate
myself back to it more persistently soon so I can publish my final
version and present you with more strategies and ideas to find
your natural dynamic speaking voice. Thank you for your
patience.
Because I moved into a new place, I have been spending a lot of
time trying to make it my own. When my new home is ready, I
would love to
take on more voice students. I'm very excited about that!
I
will keep you updated soon; stay posted...
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Relevant
Links
Voice
Yourself in the Classroom
Valerie Bastien
The Voice
Connection |
| Inspiring Quotes and Stories... |
Voice
Appeal!
St-Valentine's Day is almost here therefore, I will dare to
derive a little from my usual teacher talks and
discuss the topic of sexual attraction properties of the voice.
In the late 80's in Quebec, there was a very popular TV show called
"Coup de Foudre" on the French channel. If translated
literally, coup de
foudre means thunder strike even though the English
equivalent love at
first sight would be better suited in the context
of that show. It consisted of a dating game where 3 men and 3
women asked each other questions to see if they were compatible without
ever being able to see one another. After a series of
questions, they each had to choose their favorite and if a men and a
women both happened to choose each other, they were one step closer to the ultimate
"Coup de Foudre" challenge: being able to correctly put a face to the
voice and the personality that transpired through the questioning.
In other words, being able to match one's first impressions
to the right contestant after seeing him or her for the first time.
If successful, the new couple won a romantic getaway to
celebrate the start of their newfound love in hopes to live happily
ever after.
Many of the winning contestants talked about the voice being
an important factor in their attraction to the opposite sex and to
determine who they might be interested in since they couldn't see each
other until the very end of the game. They often said the voice was an
instant turn on (or turn off) depending on the qualities it carried.
Kindness, integrity, confidence, sense of humor, wisdom,
intelligence, health and more are easily perceived in
one's voice. That, to me is very sexy!
I think St-Valentine's Day coming up is making me a little naughty
because I feel like taking this topic into an unexpected
direction... Sex! Just as there is a difference
between having sex
and making love,
someone's voice can leave you somewhat indifferent or touch
your soul in the most intimate ways. It becomes an extension and
the expression of pleasure and exctasy during the act of love. It is
someone's
voice, touch and energy that keep it real and beautiful. When
you look into your lover's eyes and he/she says tenderly "I love
you", that is when you know the world as you know it has brought you to
life. Cherish him/her. Happy St-Valentine's Day! |
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