Episode 2: Where is Your Voice?
Hello and welcome to The Working Voice. I’m Shaun Morton, actor, voice artist, voice coach and professional chatterbox. And honestly, I’m utterly besotted with voices.
Obsessed really. Voices are my jam, my bread, butter and occasional spicy pickle. So if you’ve ever wondered what makes your vocal cords hum or maybe crack during karaoke, stick around.
We’re diving deep into the quirks, power and potential of your voice. Hello again. Thanks for joining me for our second episode and a massive shout out to everyone who sent in feedback from the first one.
This podcasting journey is definitely a steep learning curve, but I am loving every moment of it. And your input is helping me make each episode better. And I hope we’ll be on this fun ride together for many episodes to come.
But today we’re tackling a big question. Where is your voice? We’ll also dig into ways to unlock its potential and make the most of what you’ve got. So let’s dive in.
So where is your voice? If you had to point to it, where would you point? Maybe your mouth. Well, that makes sense. It’s where the sound comes out.
But really, that’s only the final step in a very long journey. You might also point to your voice box where all those important vocal folds create vibrations. But what causes those folds to vibrate? Your breath.
So maybe your voice is in your lungs, but we only take that breath when the diaphragm engages and pulls the air in. So is your diaphragm your voice? But if your diaphragm has no room to move, say because your posture is off and your back is tight, then that’s going to mess with the quality of your breath. And why is your posture off? Well, your ankles are tight, which can throw you off balance, causing your knees to lock.
And with your knees locked, your pelvis shifts to keep you from tipping over. So are your ankles the key to your voice? But then none of this works unless your brain is firing and the brain only gets that spark when it’s oxygenated, meaning when you take a breath, which takes us back to the lungs, the knees and the ankles. The truth is your voice isn’t located in any one single place.
It’s your entire body. Your body is the support system for your voice. It’s the scaffolding around your breath.
And your breath is the fuel that powers your sound. To get the most out of your voice, everything, posture, breath, alignment needs to work together in harmony. Your voice isn’t just something that comes out of you.
It’s something that works through you. It’s the product of your entire being from head to toe. And that means unlocking the full potential of your voice requires us to work on your whole body.
I think it’s important to say that voice work isn’t about creating a new voice or trying to sound like somebody else. Forget the days of outdated elocution lessons, pushing everyone towards some kind of perfect sound. Those days are gone.
And anyway, there is no perfect sound. No one sound is better than any other. And there’s no such thing as a bad accent, just bad communication.
Voice work is about getting to know the voice you already have and learning to make the most of it. Your voice is uniquely you. It’s your signature, your personal brand.
Trying to sound like someone else is a total waste of time. The real power of your voice comes from its authenticity. And a great voice is genuine, connected, and honest.
It’s tied to your feelings and able to express them wholeheartedly. Voice work isn’t about learning something new. It’s actually about unlearning the habits and pressures that have shaped your voice over time.
Think about when you watch a child play. They’re completely unselfconscious. Their voice is free and unrestrained, full of natural expression.
All that screaming, and yet they never lose their voice. No judgment, no pressure, just pure, uninhibited play. But as we grow older, social expectations and the way to conformity often cause us to bury or reshape our natural way of speaking and the way we hold ourselves.
We move further away from our true selves, trying to survive the complexities of life. The real power of voice work comes from reconnecting with that authentic, unrestricted sound. It’s not about creating a new voice.
It’s about peeling back those layers and freeing the voice that has always been there. It’s about unlearning bad habits. And so by doing voice work, your voice may change, but it’s making it sound more like you.
The true you. The you when your voice was free and authentic. So how do we make these changes? Well, voice training isn’t just about improving how you sound.
It’s about transforming how you communicate, how you connect with others, and how you express yourself. One of the most important areas of work is in releasing tension. Tension kills vibration, and sound is vibration.
When we carry stress or fear, our muscles tighten up, and that can restrict our breath, strain our vocal folds, and dull our resonance. All those aches and pains you feel throughout your day, that’s not just age, that’s your body being out of alignment. Another area of work is building strength and stamina.
Think of your voice as a muscle. It gets stronger the more you use it with proper technique. And this isn’t just for singers or actors.
Everyone benefits from a strong, healthy voice. Strengthening your voice helps with projection, clarity, and an ability to fill a space effortlessly. It also means you can speak for longer periods without strain, improving your vocal stamina and confidence.
As we dive deeper into voice work, we’ll unlock greater sensitivity and control. And this is where the true artistry of your voice begins to shine. You develop a deeper connection with your voice, learning to understand its nuances and potential.
It’s about adding vibrancy and expressiveness to your speech, experimenting with pitch, tone, and rhythm to make your voice more engaging and versatile. It’s like being a Formula One driver. You don’t need to be a mechanic to take the wheel, but the more you understand how your car works, its strengths, limits, and quirks, the more in sync you’ll be with it.
You’ll know when to push, when to ease off, and how to get the absolute best out of it. It’s the same with your voice. The more you explore and understand it, the more it becomes an extension of who you are, effortlessly communicating your thoughts and emotions.
And you’ll come to recognize that your voice is a muscle, just like any other in your body, and it needs care, attention, and proper maintenance. If your job requires you to speak regularly, whether that’s an actor, teacher, salesperson, or just about any professional who interacts with others, you are a voice athlete. You wouldn’t expect a marathon runner to go straight into a big race without at least a hamstring stretch or a lunge.
Why? Because they respect and understand the mechanics of their body, and know that preparation is a key to peak performance. The same principle applies to your voice. As you work with it, you’ll learn to treat it with the same level of respect and care, ensuring it stays strong, flexible, and ready to perform at its best.
Through this process, you’ll notice transformative improvements across the board. Your resonance and range will expand, giving your voice a richer, more dynamic quality. Your projection will strengthen, ensuring your sound carries effortlessly to every corner of a room.
With enhanced breath support and capacity, you’ll gain the power to sustain your voice with ease. And your articulation will sharpen, making every word crystal clear, not to mention your communication skills evolving, allowing you to speak with greater confidence and connection. And perhaps most importantly, you’ll conquer those pesky nerves, building confidence so that your voice consistently reflects the very best version of yourself.
Voice work isn’t just physical, it’s emotional too. You’re shedding habits that may have served you for years, and that’s not easy, and can make you feel quite vulnerable. But habits aren’t permanent, and they don’t define you.
As you release the old and build the new, you’re not just improving your voice, you’re empowering yourself. So how do we start? Well, it begins with awareness. Pay attention to your voice, how it feels, how it sounds, and how others react to it.
Practice regularly, experiment, and don’t be afraid to play. And remember, it’s not about perfection, it’s about progress and connection. So what’s next for you? Well, let’s start with this.
Think about the voices you admire. What’s so special about them? What qualities stand out that you’d like to bring into your own voice? And here’s the key, it’s not about copying, it’s about drawing inspiration. And here’s a little extra homework challenge for you.
Grab your phone, hit record, and just talk. Anything that comes to mind, your day, your favourite show, or even what you had for breakfast. This is your before moment.
Hold on to it, set it aside, and come back to it later. You’ll be amazed at how your voice is going to evolve. Those changes could be small, but that’s the point.
Having a starting point helps us to see just how far you’ve come. And next time, we’ll start diving into the real work. Thanks for joining me on this episode of The Working Voice.
If today’s chat has brought you a smile, sparked a new idea, or just made folding the laundry a bit more bearable, I’d love it if you could spread the word. Subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could use a little vocal inspiration. And hey, if you’re ready to take the next step with your voice, and you want some one-to-one coaching, I’d be thrilled to help.
You can reach out to me at theworkingvoice.co.uk. Until next time, keep talking, keep experimenting, and keep being unapologetically, fabulously, you.
