I've had a wide variety of types of students over the years. I had a corporate client who literally wanted to put a song and dance together. I had a prison psychologist. I had a woman who sang in a church chior who wanted lessons because the director was ready to kick her off the worship team. Most recently, I will be taking on a 22 year old male corrections officer who wants to command respect from the inmates using his voice.
I'm finding that the longer I do this, the wider the range of student types I get. Trust me, there's something for everyone.
1/6/11
1/4/11
On Regressing
A former public speaking student called me today wanting to come back. Yay for me, but I wish she was coming back for the simple enjoyment of it, rather than because she's regressed.
Regression is a part of any skill. We don't always stay on top of things. A perfect example would be diet and exercise. I could hear in her speaking voice on the phone, exactly what she meant. She had that croaky sound back in her throat. She told me she really wasn't thinking about it in her day to day. Of course that didn't please me.
In case there is any doubt, if you don't practice, you lose parts of your skill. The same would hold true for stopping a diet or exercise program. If you don't use it, you lose it. It's nice to have a client back from a business perspective, but not so much when it's simply a matter of the person just didn't apply what they learned for the long term. She wouldn't have felt the need to come back for another round if it had become a part of her. In order to have success with training, it must become part of you PERMANENTLY!
Regression is a part of any skill. We don't always stay on top of things. A perfect example would be diet and exercise. I could hear in her speaking voice on the phone, exactly what she meant. She had that croaky sound back in her throat. She told me she really wasn't thinking about it in her day to day. Of course that didn't please me.
In case there is any doubt, if you don't practice, you lose parts of your skill. The same would hold true for stopping a diet or exercise program. If you don't use it, you lose it. It's nice to have a client back from a business perspective, but not so much when it's simply a matter of the person just didn't apply what they learned for the long term. She wouldn't have felt the need to come back for another round if it had become a part of her. In order to have success with training, it must become part of you PERMANENTLY!
1/2/11
On Stuttering
Stuttering is kind of a brain fart. I have a client who has a little bit of a stuttering issue, but it only happens when speaking, not with singing. So we change the brain's association to what we're doing. We pretend we're singing, because pitch is pitch, whether you're singing or speaking. If you say "uh", you can many times match it to a pitch on the piano. Not always, because some tones are between tones and difficult for the brain to pick up on. So don't actually start singing while you're speaking, but allow part of your mind to believe you are.
You can also do the stutter part in your head. Breath deeply, slow down the wheel in your brain, say your "uh"s in your head, and speak when you're confident that they will be reduced. You don't want to wait too long, because then you'll never actually speak. You want the time between the "uh"s in your mind and the time you start speaking to decrease. This is how the brain gets reconditioned.
What do you think?
You can also do the stutter part in your head. Breath deeply, slow down the wheel in your brain, say your "uh"s in your head, and speak when you're confident that they will be reduced. You don't want to wait too long, because then you'll never actually speak. You want the time between the "uh"s in your mind and the time you start speaking to decrease. This is how the brain gets reconditioned.
What do you think?
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