Voice Health: Treat Your Podcasting Instrument With Care - EP 85

How much do you prioritize your vocal health? Most of us, even if we work in the voice acting, podcasting, or broadcast industries, don’t think too much about our voices. But remember: if you don’t have a voice, you don’t have a podcast!

In this episode, Mary breaks down what we can all do to take better care of our most important business asset. The solution can’t be to never speak or raise your voice except while you work, but preemptive planning, some mind-body connection, and a little (or a lot of) self-love go a long way to keeping those chords healthy for when you need them.

Give your voice the TLC it deserves! Listen in to find out:

• Why glugging water right before you speak doesn’t cut it
• How to balance those fun, loud nights out with your podcast-related voice work
• The mental component of taking care of your voice

Links worth mentioning from the episode:

• Win tickets to the Podcasting for Business Conference by leaving a voice note! https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice
• Attend the Podcasting for Business Conference - https://pfbcon.com/attend-2024/
• Mary’s voice love notes chat with Andrea Klunder of the Creative Imposter - https://bit.ly/cimarychan
• Read the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s article, Effects of Hydration on Voice Acoustics - https://pubs.asha.org/doi/pdf/10.1044/cicsd_36_F_142
• Episode 50, “Stop Thinking About Yourself” - https://www.organizedsound.ca/stop-thinking-about-yourself-episode-50/
• Episode 54, “The Process of What's Working, What's Not Working, and What to Celebrate For Your Podcast” - https://www.organizedsound.ca/the-process-of-whats-working-whats-not-working-and-what-to-celebrate-for-your-podcast-winter-break-episode-54/
• Episode 55, “How to Find Your Podcasting Voice” - https://www.organizedsound.ca/how-to-find-your-podcasting-voice-why-authenticity-is-100-times-better-than-a-traditional-radio-voice-episode-55/
• Episode 70, “How to Use Research and Reports to Guide Your Podcast with Megan Dougherty” - https://www.organizedsound.ca/how-to-use-research-and-reports-to-guide-your-podcast-with-megan-dougherty-episode-70

Connect with Mary!

• Leave a voicemail with your feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice or email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com
• Get the full transcript of the episode at http://www.visiblevoicepodcast.com
• Read up on more secrets with the Visible Voice Insights Newsletter https://www.organizedsound.ca/newsletter
• To learn more or work with Mary, check out https://www.organizedsound.ca
• Link up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marychan-organizedsound/
• Engage on Instagram @OrganizedSoundProductions https://www.instagram.com/organizedsoundproductions

Show Credits:

• Podcast audio design, engineering, and edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions
• Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co.
• Show notes written by Shannon Kirk of Right Words Studio
• Post-production support by Kristalee Forre of Forre You VA

Transcript with Audio Description:

[MUSIC IN - GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: Your voice is your number one instrument. This is something I talk about a lot. I mean, it's also one of the first things you see on my website, because without your voice, and take it from me, I lost my voice in the middle of September for almost a whole week. Without your voice, you don't have a podcast. So why is it, as podcasters, we don't think about our voice as much as, say, the person we want to interview, or the titles, the artwork, those aspects always get a lot of focus. But your voice, not so much. 

So in this episode, we’re talking voice. Why it's not exactly what you hear in your head and how we can move forward to record more episodes with more love for your vocal cords and your heart. 

This is episode 85 of the Podcasters Guide to a Visible Voice. 

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Welcome back to the show. And like I said at the start, I did lose my voice in the middle of September, 

[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

and I still feel like it's a little dry and scratchy. So bear with me. But I do sound so much better even my daughter was like, you sound like a grumbly bear. Before I was kind of talking like this, and I actually didn't do any talking because I couldn't talk. So when you're a podcaster, it's like, your worst nightmare, losing your voice.

[MUSIC IN]

You know, it's funny how most people, even those who work in the industry, like voiceover artists or broadcast media, they don't always think about their voice until they lose it, like I did. I remember one of my coworkers back in the radio days. She hosted a four hour Monday through Friday show, but she lost her voice because she was screaming and having fun at a concert the night before. Long haul voice usage, so talking to people is one thing, but when you're a podcaster, you're actually performing with your voice. That's a totally different thing. That's like presenting, or teaching, or voicing audiobooks, and, yeah, like I said, when we're podcasting, this is when we are being intentional with our voice. 

Whether you are actually thinking about that on purpose or not, it isn't just about having a conversation. In the back of your mind, you want to make an impact with your podcast episode. So before you get to the, oh, my God, I've lost my voice like I did. 

Let's talk about prevention. I know, my version of getting sick and losing my voice, that's harder to prevent. You know, you can't prevent the fact that my daughter brought home a cold and then she passed it on to me. That's just part of the September back to school blues. But what I'm talking about is maybe that concert that my coworker was screaming at or talking all night at a loud dinner party, that part, we can do more to nurture our voice. And just whenever we use our voice on a day to day process, we can nurture our voice at any point in time. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

I think more and more people these days are more aware of hydrating. So drinking water, you know, those Stanley tumblers that have been out on social media, huge water bottles that people are drinking out of, because they want to stay hydrated. But what podcasters might not realize is that you're just not hydrating your body. That also means you're hydrating your voice. But when you drink, the interesting thing that most people often think is that drinking water will immediately hydrate your vocal cords. But really, your vocal cords live in the same world as where you breathe air makes them work, not your digestive system. 

So when you drink fluids, the water actually isn't coating or washing out your vocal cords. You actually need to hydrate, meaning drink well before you speak in order for that hydration to reach your vocal cords, because what we drink or eat, those fluids need to be transported through the body system in order to be absorbed by cells for it to work, and that could take 24 hours. If you're more of a science nerd, you can read more about it in an article called The Effects Of Hydration On Voice Acoustics from the American Speech Language Hearing association. I'll put that link in the show notes. But, yeah, when we're breathing, we're using our vocal cords, but when we hydrate, we need to drink well in advance. Stay hydrated is what that means. You gotta drink well in advance to make sure that your vocal cords are hydrated. 

[MUSIC IN]

So the Internet myth of lemon and honey or gargling salt water won't actually fix your voice. Oh, the Internet. We love busting myths. Rest is also key, and I know you can't just not talk. You know, we still have to do our day to day work. But with some advanced planning, rest could help. 

For example, you know, you're heading out to a loud restaurant for dinner one night. When you plan your podcast recordings, make sure you give your voice a break. So don't schedule any recordings the day after or even first thing the next morning. Give your voice time to get back to normal. You have to think of your voice like other muscles in your body. You just did a huge workout with it the night before. Talking loudly at that dinner party. So are you going to be doing a marathon the day after? Probably not. 

So when we have the luxury of time and planning, think about what you've got planned around any big vocal events. And I know vocal events might be hard to grasp, like, okay, concerts, dinner parties, but what else? Sometimes you just never know when you need to speak loudly for long periods of time. And one of those things too is like a networking event. You know, I go to those, but I make sure because they're once a month or what have you. I'm not scheduling anything after that networking event, I'll make sure my voice has time to rest. It's like having a little vocal nap. Naps are lovely, so why not one for your voice? 

Another vocal event could be like recording a podcast episode. Yeah, you might think, okay, I'm gonna record back to back, to back, to back, so I can just batch record everything and get things out of the way. But are you scheduling time in between to rest? Those vocal cords need a little bit of a rest before you take it out for another workout. So, make sure little voice snaps are scheduled in for you when you're even batch recording podcast episodes. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

And using your voice goes beyond the physical aspects we've been talking about. Your voice is really multi-layered, and there's always going to be a mental component as well. We worry about every word and how we sound, but imagine being able to strip away all of that. But I know it's easier said than done. When we use our voice all that muck from our past, the subconscious stuff. It all gets kinda in the way. When I use my voice too. I think about all the times my family told me not to say anything because it's quote unquote private. Which in my mind equals to. Should I share this one story on a podcast? Can I talk about this with a friend? When should I hold back? How much do I share? There's some mental gymnastics going on there. Or I might also be thinking about my experiences in grade six. My teacher giving me the nickname motormouth Mary all year. 

So today I still wonder at times, am I talking too fast? I'm just going on and on and on and on. All that history with your voice comes back every time you do some vocal work, the little nuances creep up. But what I found is that, as you heard, I've made those little connections with my voice story. That grade six moment, my family moments. I've realized how past experiences affect my voice today.

I can acknowledge it and be quicker at moving past it so that mental gymnastics doesn't take as long and realize things like, nope, not talking too fast. This is just my energy. It's my speed. It's just the way I'm passionate about expressing something. When you know your voice story, you get to rewrite that ending. So we're rewiring our brain at the same time we're doing this. And I've got a great step by step for figuring out your voice story. I talked about that in episode 55, How To Find Your Podcasting Voice. So make sure you listen to that one if you haven't yet. 

[MUSIC IN]

Recently, I also had a chat with Andrea Klunder of the Creative Impostor Podcast, all about voice. You can hear the whole conversation on her podcast link in the show notes, of course. But one of the main things I got to was that need to love our voice as much as we love other parts of ourselves, or as much as we love our loved ones in our life. When you're listening back to your episodes, and I recommend that you do want to check out episode 50, Stop Thinking About Yourself, or episode 54, The Process Of What's Working, What's Not Working, And What To Celebrate For Your Podcast. Those are some good ones. If you're not so great about listening back to your episodes anyway. 

The point is, when you listen back to your episodes, I want you to listen like a friend. What would you say to your voice? Write down those notes as you listen, and write down those examples when it made you go, ooh, that's nice? We don't love our voice enough. So when you're writing down your notes, they're like little love notes to your voice, because your voice is doing a big job every single day, and it's really been underappreciated up until this point. So now that you've got that awareness, what are some little love notes that you're gonna leave for your voice? 

And if you wanna learn more about how to use your voice, Andrea and I, along with Brienne Hennessy, will be on a panel all about voice, called your voice, using it, shaping it, and protecting it. I would love for you to join us. We'll be at the podcasting for business conference. It's happening November 13 to 15th. It is all online, so this conference is going to be great for you. It was created by Megan Dougherty of One Stone Creative. She was actually a guest on  this very podcast, episode 70, How To Use Research And Reporting To Guide Your Podcast. So make sure you listen to that one. If you haven't listened to Megan yet she is a fount of information. She is the one that's creating the conference. So make sure you head to the link to attend the conference and I'll see you there on my panel about using your voice. Of course, as always, as I've already said, link will be in the show notes.

[MUSIC ENDS]

Ooh, also, thank you for listening this far along. I'd also love to give you a free ticket to join us. I have a ticket for the conference for you, so if you would like to enter to win between now, so now, meaning when this episode is published on October the 14th until the end of the day on November 1st, if you want to win a ticket to the conference, all you need to do is leave me a voice note from my website because I want you to share your voice. Head to VisibleVoicePodcast.com, there's a purple send voicemail button to the right of your screen. 

From there, I want you to leave a 90 second voice note from your device. One, state your name where you're calling from. Two, say and complete the following sentence stems I want you to say, the first time someone said something about my voice, it made me feel dot, dot, dot fill in the blanks and then end with, today, what I love about my voice is dot, dot, dot. This is part of the voice story that I mentioned early on in the episode. So, this is part of the inner work, the mental work that we're doing with our voice, and I would love for you to share that with me, please. So yes, state your name, where you're calling from and then complete the following sentence stems. The first time someone said something about my voice, it made me feel and then end with, today what I love about my voice is. 

So thank you so much in advance for sending in ah, your voice note, your little love note for yourself, and I'll do a random draw for a free ticket to the podcasting for business conference. So good luck. And again, thank you in advance. 

[MUSIC IN]

So I hope this was a good little reminder or love note to you and your voice. Don't forget, stay hydrated, give your voice a nap when it needs it, and I'll see you at the Podcasting For Business Conference online in November. 

On the next episode, we're going to talk more vocal health and warm ups with Nic Redmond. She shares some really great short exercises to love your voice before you settle in behind the mic. She also gives some really solid tips for when you need to podcast while you're sick. And yeah, it was more personal for me because when I recorded the episode, I was just recovering from losing my voice, and I was still a little scratchy. So you're not gonna want to miss this, it's cold and flu season. We all need these tips, and, uh, they're such great reminders for your voice. So join me next time with Nic Redmond. We're gonna talk vocal health and voice warm ups. We'll talk to you then.

[MUSIC ENDS]

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MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the Podcaster's Guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you share it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to VisibleVoicePodcast.com. Until next time.

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[MUSIC ENDS]