Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice
1,002 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 months ago - ★★★★ - 4 ratingsYear THREE of short daily episodes to improve the quality of your speaking voice.
Through these around-5-minute episodes, you can build your confidence and competence with advice on breathing and reading, inflection and projection, the roles played by better scripting and better sitting, mic techniques and voice care tips... with exercises and anecdotes from a career spent in TV and radio studios. If you're wondering about how to start a podcast, or have had one for a while - download every episode!
And as themes develop over the weeks (that is, they are not random topics day-by-day), this is a free, course to help you GET A BETTER BROADCAST, PODCAST AND VOICE OVER VOICE.
Look out for more details of the book during 2024.
Contacts: https://linktr.ee/Peter_Stewart
Audio recording script and show notes (c) 2021, 2022, 2023 Peter Stewart
Peter has been around voice and audio all his working life and has trained hundreds of broadcasters in all styles of radio from pop music stations such as Capital FM and BBC Radio 1, the classical music station BBC Radio 3 and regional BBC stations. He’s trained news presenters on regional TV, the BBC News Channel and on flagship programmes such as the BBC’s Panorama.
He has written a number of books on audio and video presentation and production (see contacts clink above) and presented hundreds of radio shows (you may have heard him on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, Virgin Radio or Kiss, as well as BBC regional radio) with various formats. He has read tens of thousands of news bulletins and hosted 3,000+ podcast episodes.
The podcast title refers to those who may wish to change their speaking voice in some way. It is not a suggestion that anyone should, or be pressured into needing to. We love accents and dialects, and are well aware that how we speak changes over time. The key is: is your voice successfully communicating your message, so it is being understood (and potentially being acted upon) by your target audience?
This podcast is London-based and examples are spoken in the RP (Received Pronunciation) / standard-English / BBC English pronunciation, although invariably applicable to other languages, accents and dialects.
The 'Peter Stewart' show is perhaps of great interest to those in broadcast voice overs, the broadcast voice, how to start a voice podcast, broadcasting voice training, your speaking voice, breathing technique, and conversational speaking. You may also find it useful if you are searching for information on voice coaching, voice training, voice overs, podcasting, broadcasting, presenting, being a voice over actor and newsreading, audio branding, public speaking, the recorded voice, vocal tips, performance, vocal health education, vocal technique and voice over training.
Music credits: all Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
"Beauty Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow
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Episodes
0950 – The ‘Gravelly’ Voice
August 07, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.54 MB2023.08.08 – 0950 – The ‘Gravelly’ Voice Gravelly voice Symptom: A low, deep voice with little energy, projection or intonation. Prescription: This may be reduced by losing weight which could enhance better posture and increased energy. This will enable easier breath support (listen to episode 833) and projection, with more energy for increased intonation. (A series of episodes from episode 323 was about the volume of your voice.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...
0949 – The ‘Gabbling’ Voice
August 06, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.87 MB2023.08.07 – 0949 – The ‘Gabbling’ Voice Gabbling voice[1] Symptom: Different situations require different speeds: a brash ‘pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap’ commercial is likely to be faster than one for luxury lingerie, a late-night presenter on a classical music station likely to have a slower pace than a jock on a city-based Countdown show. Having said that, someone who speaks too fast may not be pronouncing their words correctly. Or if they are, they may stumble more than they should...
0948 – The ‘Forced Pitch’ Voice
August 05, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.32 MB2023.08.06 – 0948 – The ‘Forced Pitch’ Voice Forced pitch voice (also see: unnatural pitch) Symptom: Some people force their voice to produce sound at a different pitch than is normal or comfortable for them. Men and women may artificially lower their pitch in the belief that it gives them more gravitas or presence. (Raising the pitch is less usual.) This results in an inauthentic delivery which the listener can usually detect. At the very least a listener may be concentrating more to the...
0947 – Filler Words
August 04, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.45 MB2023.08.05 – 0947 – Filler Words Filler words (over-use of) Symptom: Verbal ticks in conversation, links and adlibs include words like “umm”, “so” and “yeah?” (and, indeed, “like”), or phrases such as “you know what I mean?”, “kinda thing”.[1] Prescription: · Record and listen back to identify the use and regularity of these words. Some may be OK, but too much may be grating on the listener. · Prepare your notes better so you know what you want to say and how you will e...
0946 – The ‘Ending Pattern’ Voice
August 03, 2023 23:01 - 6 minutes - 4.13 MB2023.08.04 – 0946 – The ‘Ending Pattern’ Voice ‘Ending Pattern’ voice Symptom: A variety of the ‘sing song’ pattern discussed below, this presenter may (annoyingly and predictably) end a phrase or sentence with the same or similar intonation. One beloved of news reporters is to speak naturally for most of the sentence and then pause, before giving the same emphasis to each of the three words… At. The. End. As you can tell it’s very… Annoying. To. Hear. Prescription: · This sty...
0945 – The ‘Choppy’ delivery
August 02, 2023 23:01 - 7 minutes - 4.63 MB2023.08.03 – 0945 – the ‘Choppy’ Delivery ‘Choppy’ delivery Symptom: This is the style of [breath] having to take a breath [breath] after every few words [breath] in a sentence. The scrip is disjointed. Chopped up. Rather than a smooth flow. Short word-groups are said. Rather than a full, phrase. Or a sentence. And so, the script may be hard to understand. (I referenced a famous British newsreader who does this, in episode 412.) Prescription: · Ensure you have enough breath. H...
0944 – Bunged up voice
August 01, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.59 MB2023.08.02 – 0944 – Bunged up voice Bunged up voice (also see ‘nasal voice’) Symptom: This permanent ‘cold-like’ sound is caused by ‘not enough’ sounded air to get to the nasal cavity, where the resonance of sound is changed. The voice sounds ‘thick’ or ‘clotted’ and there’s little resonance where there should be in some sounds (say ‘mmm’ and ‘ng’ – as in “sing” – and pinch your nose, and the sound should stop!) Prescription: · However, the first thing to consider is that the spe...
0943 – Breathy Voice
July 31, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.21 MB2023.08.01 – 0943 – Breathy Voice Breathy voice Symptom: A voice with lots of air, which disperses the sound waves, makes the voice weak, and soon runs out (such as that of Marilyn Munroe[1]). The cause may be serious, a physical problem in closing your vocal folds during phonation causing extra, unnecessary air to ‘leak’ as you speak. A breathy voice can be affected, put-on for dramatic effect when the speaker thinks it creates a sultry sound, but like any non-natural speaking styles it ...
0942 – Dry Mouth Problems
July 30, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.15 MB2023.07.31 – 0942 – Dry Mouth Problems Dry mouth Symptom: Unable to move your tongue around your mouth properly to form words leading to poor articulation and mistakes. Prescription: · Learn to breathe in more through your nose, which moistens and filters the air. Although this is usually less possible when actually talking as we tend to take snatches of air through our mouth between thoughts, the mouth may be dry in the first place as ‘mouth breathing’ has become a habit. (More o...
0941 – The Boring Voice
July 29, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.38 MB2023.07.30 – 0941 – The Boring Voice Boring voice (aka ‘dull’, ‘flat’, ‘monotonous’, ‘uninterested’) Symptom: If you are having trouble being engaging it may be because your voice lacks variety, and so listeners have trouble working out what is vital and what is trivial. Prescription: · Maybe your voice is lifeless because that’s almost what your body is! Consider your posture: are you sitting in a relaxed yet upright position to allow life-giving CO2 easy-access to your lungs t...
0940 – YOUR ‘GET A BETTER VOICE’ SYMPTOMS AND PRESCRIPTIONS
July 28, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.82 MB2023.07.29 – 0940 – YOUR ‘GET A BETTER VOICE’ SYMPTOMS AND PRESCRIPTIONS Although requirements for broadcast, presentation and voice-over work has changed over the years, less ‘announcer’ to more ‘natural’, you do still need a certain amount of vocal strength and a versatile, pleasing voice if you are going to communicate effectively with your intended audience. Many of the conditions below may cause the listener to shift their attention from the content, to the delivery[1], and then...
0939 – Emotional Stress After Vocal Injury
July 27, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.13 MB2023.07.28 – 0939 – Emotional Stress After Vocal Injury Emotional Stress After Vocal Injury The flip-side of emotion causing changes to the voice, is when vocal damage then affects you psychologically, perhaps because of: · Sadness about the injury and how long recovery may take, if at all · Stress about meeting a deadline, letting people down, loss of income · Awareness that part of your identity is ‘damaged’ · Self-recrimination that the injury may be ...
0938 – How Emotions And Trauma Affect How You Sound
July 26, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB2023.07.27 – 0938 – How Emotions And Trauma Affect How You Sound Tears and crying They may be tears of joy, sadness, relief or something else, but tears can create vocal problems: · Crying affects your vocal folds · Snotty sinuses swell · Long sobs (from a particular incident or over a period of time – such as in grief or depression) can lead to vocal damage such as nodes on the folds Rest is imperative: vocal, physical and psychological. How emotions and t...
0937 – Studio ‘Corpsing’
July 25, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.45 MB2023.07.26 – 0937 – Studio ‘Corpsing’ Corpsing This is when you collapse in uncontrollable fits of laughter, perhaps from a perfectly innocuous remark by a colleague, and you can’t get over your ‘fit of the giggles’. The BBC Radio Four newsreader Charlotte Green tells a great story on the website of the Guardian newspaper:- “The most memorable occasion was during an eight o'clock news bulletin on the Today programme with Sue MacGregor and Jim Naughtie, both of whom have a very good se...
0936 – Breaking News
July 24, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.8 MB2023.07.25 – 0936 – Breaking News Breaking News Stories News readers need to be cool under pressure. There are occasions when a story breaks just before, or while you are on air and it has to be covered immediately. In such circumstances, a news presenter has to tread a difficult line between making the story sound urgent and important - without making it sound overly dramatic and possibly upsetting. A steady slower, more precise pace and more authority and a hint of urgency in the vo...
0935 – Stopping Silly Script-reading Slip-ups
July 23, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.52 MB2023.07.24 – 0935 – Stopping Silly Script-reading Slip-ups Other mistakes Don’t let yourself get in your own way! Knowing some of these will help you avoid them in the first place. · Slow down if you can, and you’re likely to make fewer mistakes · Consider that you may be going fast because you are thinking of something else. So, leave your troubles at the studio door · Don’t allow distractions to compromise your concentration. If you can control it, control it. If ...
0934 – If It *Does* Go Wrong
July 22, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 3 MB2023.07.23 – 0934 – If It *Does* Go Wrong IF IT DOES GO WRONG The Number One Rule Never swear anywhere near a studio. By keeping to this, the chances of you swearing on air are greatly minimised. It is not just main studios that have microphones and the ability to ‘go live’ - many production booths where producers answer phones can also be put to air, so do not let down your guard. Live-read fluffs Sometimes, you simply get something wrong. It might be your fault because you mis-r...
0933 – Confidence Vs. Cockiness
July 21, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.24 MB2023.07.22 – 0933 – Confidence Vs. Cockiness Confidence is being pleased that you have been hired for the gig, proud that someone wants you to be the voice of their product, and certain that you can perform well. It’s the difference between someone who sees the red light go on and thinks “I know, if I concentrate, and with good direction, I’m prepared and communicate this message”, and the VO who says “yeah, baby! Wait til they hear what I can do! I’m going to prove that they were righ...
0932 – Beta Blockers To Help Studio Nerves
July 20, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.59 MB2023.07.21 – 0932 – Beta Blockers To Help Studio Nerves Beta-blockers Perhaps one of the last resorts to cope with mic fright is the use of drugs.[1] That could be drink, tobacco, (il)legal drugs such as cannabis, or some doctors prescribe beta blockers, which are usually for conditions like high blood pressure, arrhythmia and angina, but these, and tranquillizers, may help reduce your anxiety. You can see your GP to discuss if they are appropriate for you, how they work, the pros and co...
0931 – Look After Each Other
July 19, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.88 MB2023.07.20 – 0931 – Look After Each Other VOICE BOX Look after each other If you see a colleague going through an anxious moment, support them by being positive. Helpful phrases are ones such as: “I want to help you...” “How can I support you?” Less helpful phrases are: “Don’t worry…” “You’ll be fine…” Worse are: “Are you nervous?” Pointless feedback includes: Empty suggestions: “you don’t sound quite right” Negativity: “that wasn’t very good” Nerves may st...
0930 – Earn Your ‘On Air’ Miles
July 18, 2023 23:01 - 5 minutes - 3.87 MB2023.07.19 – 0930 – Earn Your ‘On Air’ Miles Earn your ‘on-air’ miles Of course, overcoming a fear of failure comes from experience: your miles at the mic. When I was still at university, I’d spend hours on hospital radio and then my local station, sometimes just sitting in a studio, seeing the layout, playing songs and jingles, seeing what happened and why. I became comfortable at the controls. Later I had tricks to help me sight-read such as reading the credits to a tv show out loud...
0929 – Gobble Up The Feedback
July 17, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.37 MB2023.07.18 – 0929 – Gobble Up The Feedback Feedback A constructive debrief is part of the ‘Plan and Prepare, Execute and Reflect and Evaluate’ feedback loop. (More on this in episode #629.) Such a ‘post performance review’ (never use the term ‘post-mortem’ as it has so many negative connotations) is most practically held just after the show or session, but be aware that it could therefore be emotionally-laden in which case postpone it til the next day. Discuss: · What went well ...
0928 – Warming Down
July 16, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.43 MB2023.07.17 – 0928 – Warming Down After The Studio Session Warm Down Exercises Hear episodes from #804 for specific exercises but doing these are part of the process to build confidence for next time. After all, if you don’t warm down and then end up hurt, it won’t inspire you to speak on mic at the next opportunity. They’re really easy to do surreptitiously in the studio when the mic’s gone down, in the toilet, leaving the building after the session or in the car: deep breathing, skele...
0927 – What To Do In The Moment When The Nerves Feel Real
July 15, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.19 MB2023.07.16 – 0927 – What To Do In The Moment When The Nerves Feel Real VOICE BOX What to do in-the-moment when the nerves feel very real? STOPP: S – Slow down Pause and look and take it in. T – Take a breath And then in the event, calming breaths, relax your mouth with lip trills and blows, be grounded on your feet. Connect with the ground and wiggle your toes O – Observe how you feel now P – Pull back. Think what a reassuring friend would say to you right now P – ...
0926 – ‘Park’ Perfection
July 14, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.23 MB2023.07.15 – 0926 – ‘Park’ Perfection Think about: · Your single listener across the room: it will help you focus your attention on reassuring realities rather than lurking fears · The fact that the audience can’t harm you. They have turned on to hear what you have to say, to get your opinion and expertise. It’s your job to help them with that · How you are probably more aware of your nerves than they are. What seemed like a dreadful mistake to you probably went comp...
0925 – Pause and Breathe, Focus and Relax
July 13, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.75 MB2023.07.14 – 0925 – Pause and Breathe, Focus and Relax Pause and Breathe High levels of adrenalin affect the body’s chemistry for violent action which it doesn’t get. Burning off energy by filling your blood with oxygen will help you replace this missing activity. A bout of steady breathing does this. Breathing is the key-thing, as I always say! Take a few minutes to centre yourself. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. It’s not big gulps of breath, it’s ‘mindful br...
0924 – Pre-Performance Routines
July 12, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.07 MB2023.07.13 – 0924 – Pre-Performance Routines Pre-performance routines Having a routine reminds the mind of what’s coming next: a live show or a session recording. We’ve spoken about all of these before: A mental warm-up, perhaps on the bus or train on the way to the studio or sitting in the car outside. Release tension and let go. Imagine you are somewhere warm, maybe on a beach or park. Imagine the sun warming your toes. Focus on the image of loosening and softening and the sun s...
0923 – Positive Self-Talk
July 11, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.56 MB2023.07.12 – 0923 – Positive Self-Talk During The Studio Session – or pre-performance routines immediately before Positive self-talk Remember that you were chosen for your talents ahead of everyone else. So really, the hardest bit is over! You have to have as much confidence in yourself as the client or producer does. Of course, you’ll be nervous but perhaps try and break any tension with some light conversation, get to know the studio staff, ask them questions and so on. The producer...
0922 – Step By Step Positive Songs
July 10, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.43 MB2023.07.11 – 0922 – Step By Step Positive Songs Listen to a Positive Song Music is a great emotion-bringer, so when you get up on your ‘big day’ pick one that gives you positive energy and brings a smile to your face. This could be something from your childhood or a recent song that you can’t stop listening to. [Snooker player] Ali Carter suggested that Whitney Houston inspired him to a first ranking title in seven years as he won the German Masters… He revealed that listening to the ...
0921 – Nutrition and Hydration
July 09, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.38 MB2023.07.10 – 0921 – Nutrition and Hydration Nutrition and Hydration Eating gives you the fuel to stay focused and keep going under pressure. Healthy food of a single ingredient (so fruit, vegetables and so on), is preferable to processed additive-ridden ready-meals which can affect your gut and your brain. There’s a huge link between one and the other, and if you eat like a slob, you’re likely to get brain fog … as well as enjoy the knock-on effects of being overweight (and the issues t...
0920 – Rest and Relax
July 08, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 1.95 MB2023.07.09 – 0920 – Rest and Relax Preparation – Your Voice We have covered plenty of exercises to help you have a strong, healthy and agile voice, both in how it sounds and also how it sounds with particular words, scripts, the intonations and emotions. Remember two of my philosophies on this topic: · Breathing is the key thing – belly-breathing will help calm you · Hydrate, mate o And linked with this, steaming, which we looked at before (ep 767). Rest and Relax ...
0919 – Does Practice Make Perfect?
July 07, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.56 MB2023.07.08 – 0919 – Does Practice Make Perfect? Preparation - The content - Be familiar with the script, the format, the role, the studio tech … If you’re not prepared, you will know it, even deep down. Prepare, and prepare for the unexpected: what to do if there’s breaking news, you have to ‘fill for time’ for a minute, the guest is not who you were expecting, you’ve lost your notes. That script, have you read it through at least once (without over prepping)? Do you know how the link wo...
0918 – Counselling For Mic Fright
July 06, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.15 MB2023.07.07 – 0918 – Counselling For Mic Fright Psychological help and counselling If your jitters are more serious and long term, therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy[1] may help discover the reasons, put things into perspective and suggest long-term coping strategies. If your fears relate back to long-standing difficult psychological events, it will help to identify and work through these with a suitable psychotherapist. If your performance fears include panic attacks, social ...
0917 – Have a No-Stress Rehearsal
July 05, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 2.55 MB2023.07.06 – 0917 – Have a No-Stress Rehearsal Have a Mental Rehearsal Visualise success – Research shows that our brain reacts the same in a real situation as in an imagined one, so do what athletes do and start training your brain into thinking positively and practice seeing yourself performing well. Develop and practice pre- and during- ‘performance’ routines so you feel more familiarity with what’s going to happen, so you settle in more quickly when it starts for real. And as you do t...
0916 – Remind Yourself Why You Care
July 04, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.6 MB2023.07.05 – 0916 – Remind Yourself Why You Care Remind yourself why you care Why is this broadcast, podcast or voice-over opportunity important to you? Tell yourself, out loud, how excited you are about this what it is that you, the product, or your guest are about to share with listeners. From your perspective, you really know that this is what you want to do, and you’ve put yourself in this situation: · You’ve dreamt of having your own radio show · You’ve trained ...
0915 – Renaming and Reframing Mic Fright
July 03, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.42 MB2023.07.04 – 0915 – Renaming and Reframing Mic Fright Re-naming and re-framing: Positive self-talk Our physical reactions to different emotions are often similar. Think how you feel when you’re excited and when you’re frightened; both emotions may result in increased muscle tension, tremor and palpitations but we interpret them differently. Excitement is perceived as a positive ‘stress’ while genuine fear or anger is perceived as unpleasant ‘distress’. Here's another example: the si...
0914 – Be “Channelin’ The Adrenaline”!
July 02, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.11 MB2023.07.03 – 0914 – Be “Channelin’ The Adrenaline”! “Channelin’ the adrenaline”! Remember, if you are nervous, it shows you care. You want to perform well, you want to be careful and professional, not slipshod and slapdash. Of course, the presence of some of these chemicals can give you the edge. Some arousal leads to better performance: you may feel sharper and wittier, have rapier-like questions, Seiko-like timing, a voice of a god and more presence than Santa. Too much adrenaline and yo...
0913 – Know Your Nervous Triggers
July 01, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 2.63 MB2023.07.02 – 0913 – Know Your Nervous Triggers OVERCOMING MIC FRIGHT BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER YOUR STUDIO SESSION BEFORE Pre-performance routines the weeks and days beforehand Those ‘butterflies’ in your stomach? They’re normal. But you have to teach them to fly in formation, like a squadron of drones, and harness their combined energies to give you wings and allow you to fly! Here’s how to do just that. Know Your Nervous Triggers First realise what it is that you are fe...
0912 – Your Mindset At The Mic
June 30, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 3.21 MB2023.07.01 – 0912 – Your Mindset At The Mic INTRODUCTION Performance anxiety is rarely researched and so we understand very little about the specifics of this complex condition. We know some hacks… but we also know that long term mental health is very serious. Again, consult a medical professional for more long-term treatment for what may be underlying issues. Millenia ago our caveman ancestors would have sat around a camp fire, telling stories of spirits and sabre-toothed tigers. Thei...
0911 – Your Guests’ Nerves
June 29, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.47 MB2023.06.30 – 0911 – Your Guests’ Nerves Don’t forget the guests They get nervous too. The presence of a microphone can cause some people to panic. Perhaps that’s not surprising in some situations: pouncing on an unsuspecting member of the public in the street, shoving a microphone in their face and asking them intricate questions about the international monetary fund is sure to make someone clam up and run off! Studio or podcast guests may suffer similar anxiety, either a member of the...
0910 – How The Audience Reacts To Your Nerves
June 28, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.38 MB2023.06.29 – 0910 – How The Audience Reacts To Your Nerves How does the audience react to your nerves? Nerves not only affect you; they also affect your listeners. They want to feel taken care of, that they are in safe hands. They’ll feel comfortable, if they think you are. If you sound nervous, they may: · Question your competence – “why is she nervous if she’s supposed to know what she’s talking about?” · Feel sympathy – “that poor woman, this must be so awful for ...
0909 – How Video Meetings Can Cause Stress
June 27, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 2.91 MB2023.06.28 – 0909 – How Video Meetings Can Cause Stress VOICE BOX How video meetings can cause stress: More focus is needed to process non-verbal communication such as facial expressions, tonal variation, body language The self-awareness of being watched may make you feel that you are performing and lead to performance anxiety Delays or latency: even a 1.2 second delay can make you perceive the responder as unfriendly or unfocussed. In a real-life conversation silence is normal, but on ...
0908 – When You Simply Can’t Speak At All
June 26, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 2.4 MB2023.06.27 – 0908 – When You Simply Can’t Speak At All The clinical name for hoarseness is ‘dysphonia’ and complete (or almost complete) voice loss is ‘aphonia’. Often the symptoms are caused by infection, physical abnormality or disease, but emotional distress can also be at the root, when it is referred to as a ‘psychogenic’ voice disorder. Extreme performance anxiety may include paralysis: freezing, fainting or losing the ability to talk at all.[1] In the singing world (where of cours...
0907 – The Vocal Effect Of Mic Fright
June 25, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 1.93 MB2023.06.26 – 0907 – The Vocal Effect Of Mic Fright Vocally: · When stressed, the muscles that control the larynx can become tense.[1] (Periods of prolonged muscle tension in the larynx can lead to a lack of coordination of the vocal control system that can cause vocal fatigue and even vocal damage.) · Tension is likely to harden surfaces and make them smaller. So, holding your shoulders and throat in this state, and having a jaw that’s barely opening, will make any vocali...
0906 – The Respiratory Effect Of Mic Fright
June 24, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 1.24 MB2023.06.25 – 0906 – The Respiratory Effect Of Mic Fright Respiritorally: · Held tension will restrict your ability to drop your diaphragm and open up your lungs · ‘Fight-or-flight breathing’ into your upper thoracic chest cavity and the clavicular area of your throat, meaning your breaths will naturally be shorter and shallower · You won’t be able to take in a proper amount of oxygen, a natural calming chemical · You’ll be forced into mid-sentence snatched b...
0905 – The Physical Effect Of Mic Fright
June 23, 2023 23:01 - 1 minute - 983 KB2023.06.24 – 0905 – The Physical Effect Of Mic Fright Physically: · Sweating under the arms, down the back and clammy hands · A stomach somewhere between a butterfly house or churning like a cement mixer and in extreme cases, vomiting (or a feeling of it) and diarrhoea or a feeling to rush to the toilet · A racing heart, or sometimes a rapidly-dropping heart rate · Blurred vision · Trembling or in-chair fidgeting, shuffling from foot to foot as thou...
0904 – The Mental Effect Of Mic Fright
June 22, 2023 23:01 - 4 minutes - 2.98 MB2023.06.23 – 0904 – The Mental Effect Of Mic Fright The effect of nerves and stress on the body psychosomatic /ˌsʌɪkə(ʊ)səˈmatɪk/ adjective 1. A physical illness or condition caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress 2. relating to the interaction of mind and body. Extra adrenaline upsets your natural hormonal equilibrium causing ‘microphone-itis’. It’s not a nice list of symptoms and side-effects to have one or more of these. Menta...
0903 – The Studio ‘Caveman’
June 21, 2023 23:01 - 2 minutes - 1.76 MB2023.06.22 – 0903 – The Studio ‘Caveman’ This survival mechanism developed so humans could react quickly to life-threatening situations. But even though we don’t experience many saber-toothed tigers down the high street, our mind can still perceive some unusual situations as stressful, triggering the original reactions. Of course, very often we can neither fight or flee: our ‘caveman brain’ tells us to attack the interviewer or rip the mic off the stand – but our ‘modern brain’ tells us...
0902 – Mic ‘Flight and Fight’
June 20, 2023 23:01 - 3 minutes - 1.98 MB2023.06.21 – 0902 – Mic ‘Flight and Fight’ Mic fight and flight[1] The ‘fight or flight’ response is well known: an automatic physiological reaction that’s perceived by the ‘caveman’ in us as stressful or frightening. The sympathetic nervous system is activated, triggering an acute stress response that prepares the body to confront it, or get away from it. A cascade of adrenaline, noradrenaline and acetylcholine make the heart pound, pupils dilate and breathing quicken. Muscles tense with ...
0901 – Lack of Prep Time
June 20, 2023 00:01 - 2 minutes - 1.31 MB2023.06.20 – 0901 – Lack of Prep Time · Lack of time or effort to prepare mentally – perhaps you are tired, ‘under the weather’, in pain or returning after a break. There may be distracting ‘life events’ in your head: deaths and illnesses, relationship breakdowns or financial pressures. Even if you can’t step away from these physically, try and do so mentally, from the editorial process in the newsroom or studio: the talk and the technicals. Prepare for your performance: the message ...