Latest / The Vocal Hack Podcast / #02 The Voice is a Muscle - The Vocal Hack Podcast
Transcript
- Joana Lisboa: Hi, my name is Joana. Assumpta Munsi: And I am Assumpta and we're both vocal coaches for quite some time now and we decided it is time to share our knowledge with all of you. Joana Lisboa: Today we're going to bust the biggest myth in communication that a great voice requires talent, that you are born with it. We're going to prove you that your voice is a muscle and it's something that can be trained and strengthened and mastered. Assumpta Munsi: Yes, exactly. For example, remember the last time you had to speak up in a big meeting or you had like a presentation to give and your voice cracked or you felt out of breath out of nowhere or you just couldn't find the right words? You probably thought I'm just not a natural speaker. What if that belief is completely wrong. And it's actually holding you more back than anything. Joana Lisboa: Yes, like, think like going to the gym. You don't look to someone that bench pressing 100 kilos and say, ⁓ they're just so talented. No, no. You think, ⁓ they trained. And your vocal cords are the same, literally muscles. Your diaphragm is a muscle. Your articulator, lips, tongue are muscles. Assumpta Munsi: It's like being out of breath when you walk upstairs for the first time. And then once you walk them every day, feeling like, oh, actually, that's not as hard. I had the same thing when I moved to my apartment now. We live in the third floor. And in the beginning, I was dying. I arrived at the end of the stairs and I was just like, now I walk it up and down and up and down. It's no problem. And your voice is the same. When we call it a talent, we let ourself off the hook. We create a fixed mindset that basically just says, I'm just bad at this. This myth creates anxiety, avoidance and stagnation in a career and it just doesn't have to be like this. Joana Lisboa: No, doesn't. But a skill is something that you need to learn. And it's a series of tools and exercises that you need to practice. And this can be liberating. It means that anyone at any starting point can prove to themselves that they can do it. It's not about genetics. It's about ⁓ workout and exercises. Assumpta Munsi: Exactly. Let's try something. We start with our breath because the basis of everything with your voice is always your breath. A shaky voice, yeah, doesn't come from, oh, I have a bad voice. It actually most of the time comes from a weak breath support. So I want you to try this. Put Joana Lisboa: So true. Assumpta Munsi: one hand on your belly and put another one to control on your chest. Because when we breathe in, a lot of people breathe in to the top and this hand, the upper hand the one that just moves. ⁓ But I want to like this upper hand is completely still and just the one on your belly is the one that expands ⁓ by inhaling deeply through your nose feeling like your belly expands like a balloon. And then slowly exhaling out the air on a sound and try to keep that expansion in your belly as long as possible. Basically trying as if these balloon walls like try to still expand outwards and don't just collapse. Do you feel that engagement? That is your diaphragm working. Joana Lisboa: ⁓ Can I try out something? Let me be your puppet. ⁓ Assumpta Munsi: Of course. ⁓ I love that. Okay. ⁓ Joana. Breathe in. Joana Lisboa: and let the belly go out and then... Assumpta Munsi: Slowly, yes. Joana Lisboa: I have so much air. Assumpta Munsi: You do, actually. I was like, ⁓ my god, my air is already gone. Where do you all get this air from? Joana Lisboa: So this is the... You can copy this exercise. Yes, it's very, very interesting. are all relaxed, let's wake up the vocal cords with the gentle pitch ⁓ glides. I it was your favorite, right? Assumpta Munsi: ⁓ yes. It is one of my favorite exercises, yes. Joana Lisboa: on the comfortable mm. Mm. We just need to slide from your lowest comfortable note like mm. If it's a little bit higher, you can do it a little bit higher. To your highest note, back and down. Just like this. Mm. Assumpta Munsi: You know why I love it so much? Because I always imagine smelling delicious food and just... ⁓ Yeah, or freshly baked breads. ⁓ Joana Lisboa: yes like a wonderful lasagna just came out of the oven ⁓ baked bread. Yeah, so do it like a scorn, 'mhmmmhmm' Assumpta Munsi: Yes. Joana Lisboa: Do it gently, don't strain it. This increases your flexibility and control and reduce cracks in your voice ⁓ and that strain that sometimes we feel it, it really reduces. It's a very good exercise. Assumpta Munsi: Yeah, it's a great exercise. You can literally do it everywhere because humming is so quiet that no one listens to that when you like walk down the stairs or when you walk down the street like no one hears if you're humming. So it's a great exercise to do on your way to work, walking down the street. really doesn't matter. I think giving this tips and these exercises, something that was really important for both of us. And I want to add one more. What is for your articulators? ⁓ Joana, mentioned earlier, it's your tongue, ⁓ it's your lips, but it's also your... palette. I always forget that word. ⁓ those ⁓ need a lot of flexibility agility. I some of you might have done them already as children, but there are some ⁓ ways to train them that are actually quite fun. you call them Joana Lisboa: The tongue twisters. Assumpta Munsi: Tongue twisters, thank ⁓ Joana Lisboa: They really twist your tongue, that's why. Assumpta Munsi: Yes, the tongue twisters. So for example, try this red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather, and try to get faster and faster. like red leather, yellow, yellow, I'm already doing it. Red leather, yellow, red leather, yellow leather, red leather. ⁓ my God, my tongue is lazy today. Red. Yeah. Joana Lisboa: Yes, it's still sleeping, it needs to wake up. I think it needs to repeat it slowly. Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather. Like a few times before we speed it Assumpta Munsi: Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather. And then you can exactly or I mean, I don't know. Do you have them in Portuguese as well? Joana Lisboa: Yes, yes, Assumpta Munsi: What's your favorite? Joana Lisboa: Portugal. I have one that I give in my sessions that is very funny. Everyone starts laughing. Assumpta Munsi: There's ⁓ Joana Lisboa: That's crazy. Yes, you got it right. So it's a story about a zebra that got mad and went away, doing zigzags. Assumpta Munsi: ⁓ big bags, yes, that's so funny. I love that. Well. Joana Lisboa: Yeah, but you just have to repeat it and be very patient about yourself. Assumpta Munsi: Yes, it's basically like muscle memory, training your muscles for certain movements. And that's what you always do when you train a muscle. Like if you try to learn how to play the piano, you do the same exercise over and over and over to train your finger muscles. Or when you try to learn how to shoot a three pointer in basketball. You try to do it over and over and over to learn this muscle memory. And the same goes for your voice. Joana Lisboa: Yes. So we just recommend that you have a micro-habit of three, to five minutes a day. And just repeat some breathing exercise before a call, do the pitch glides in the shower, or practice your articulators during your commute. Consistency beats intensity. You just need to repeat, repeat, repeat and you feel the results. It's about showing up for your voice. Assumpta Munsi: So the next time you hear someone with a commanding, clear, confident voice, please don't think, wow, he's just talented. He was just born with this. But actually give him the credit that you probably put in a lot of training to be there where he is now. But that also means that you can be there too. Joana Lisboa: Yes, with the right exercises and consistency that can be you. Your voice is not a fixed strength. It's something that you can train every day. Assumpta Munsi: I think that's the perfect end to this episode. ⁓ week, we'll take a step further and tackle one of the biggest results of an untrained voice ⁓ that so people do. It's called ⁓ uptalk. ⁓ that ⁓ and how looks like, ⁓ we will ⁓ then and but ⁓ It basically is the way of undermining your authority right away and we will tell you how to fix this. So make sure you're subscribed! Joana Lisboa: if found helpful, please share with someone that ⁓ like. It be a colleague, can be a friend, can be a lover. Anyone that to hear this, ⁓ please share. And for the show notes and the of these three exercises, please visit our page. Thanks for listening! Assumpta Munsi: See you next time. Bye.