Unfiltered Thoughts

2023.07.14 – 0925 – Pause and Breathe, Focus and RelaxPause and BreatheHigh 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 breathing’: calm and reassuring breaths, noticing your body and its surroundings. Calm with five deep breaths from stomach and other relaxation exercises we have looked at in-depth before Focus and relax!Take the focus off yourself, make it about the audience, to share and serve them. Don’t over analyse or overthink what you’re doing and saying.·        Give it some time – once you are in the studio you will get over the initial nervousness after the first few links, takes or pages. Confidence will come!·        It’s not just you – other people will be nervous as well: the producer, the client and others may also feel the same way. You’re in this together to make it work for all of you! VOICE BOXInspiring confidence as a director: ·        Be welcoming and do introductions ·        Avoid being negative (timing, etc)·        Talk through what you want to achieve and how it fits in, the context of the project·        Check, water, pencil, a script·        Ask for a first read·        Tell them you love what they are doing and help them get what they haven’t got ‘yet’·        Best to have actor have their own understanding so they sound believable, clear feedback“yes and…”·        Try not to interrupt mid flow, avoid stop/starts·        Create an environment where people feel confident and comfortable to create creativity
There’s more advice on this, in episodes #615, 627, 629
 ·        Keep things light – stay professional, but don’t be overly serious. Keep the room at ease, crack an (appropriate) light comment if possible and get into the spirit of having a good time. Perhaps be a little self-deprecating if you have to do multiple takes.·        Concentrate – sometimes you don’t have time or ‘headspace’ to be nervous because you’re concentrating on the task in hand. Slow down, take a breath and take your time. Don’t let what you can’t do, interfere with what you can do. In other words, don’t worry about what you can’t change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.13 – 0924 – Pre-Performance Routines  Pre-performance routinesHaving 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 shining and melting any tension away. Repeat while considering your feet, ankles, shins and calves, knees, thighs, pelvis, lower belly and back, ribs, chest and upper back, shoulders, uppers arms, lower arms, hands, neck, face, scalp.  A physical warm up: walking to the studio or on a mid-way break through a recording, getting outside for some fresh air and sun.Try a wall lunge: stand a few feet away from a wall with one leg slightly forward, and push against the wall and then relax. This can also lower the amount of tension-inducing hormones in the body, such as cortisol.Shoulder rolls, shaking the hands, and arms and head turns Try clenching each group of muscles from your toes upwards. Tense each group in turn, holding for a count of five and then relax them. Soften the body: are you gripping a mouse or pen, which will give tension in the hand, arms and shoulder. A vocal warm up: Hums in your speaking range, ‘ng’ sweepsYawn, stretching the tongue, lip trills. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.12 – 0923 – Positive Self-TalkDuring The Studio Session – or pre-performance routines immediately beforePositive self-talkRemember 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 producers know they’ll get a better job from you if you are at ease. The more comfortable you are, the fewer mistakes you’ll make. Sometimes you’ll have to take a step away from the mic, have a drink, visit the toilet (and refocus). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.11 – 0922 – Step By Step Positive Songs Listen to a Positive SongMusic 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 late American singing great had played a part in ending his title wait. "The journey of getting through the day, all you can see is getting to 10 [frames] seeming like an absolute mile away… But… I heard Step by Step by Whitney Houston and it was quite a memorable song, and I just thought 'yeah, step by step, day by day' and I've got there."[1]Sing along and then smile. Smiling releases ‘feel good’ hormones: dopamine and serotonin, calming you down. Leave your troubles at the studio doorHow are you feeling right now? It may be that you have got out of bed the wrong side, or had a row with the kids, or just had an unexpected bill. You can’t take these emotions to your audience.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/64533013 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.10 – 0921 – Nutrition and Hydration Nutrition and HydrationEating 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 that leads on from that, including problems breathing), and more directly for the voice a poorly-performing or poorly-coated vocal fold system.
More long-term ways to cut anxiety:·        Exercise, which leads to sleep·        Social media detox·        Your diet – less alcohol or sugar fluctuationsCreate some ‘performance routines’ of positive self-talk, mindfulness[1] and breathing exercises, a physical and vocal warm-up and a visualization of success. [1] http://mindfulnessforsingers.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.09 – 0920 – Rest and RelaxPreparation – 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, mateo  And linked with this, steaming, which we looked at before (ep 767). Rest and Relax Part of the reason we get tense and stressed is because we are on the go all the time. Make sure that you get time to rest and relax and when you do, fully commit. That may be a good night's sleep:·        Rest will help your voice, at least 7 hours a night is good·        Not only will it rest your folds, relax your frame, it also increases your ability to concentrate, and give your body chance to rest and repair itself – leading to long-term wellness·        And of course, when you are sleeping you have your skeleton in a restful state (obviously) and not slumped in front of the TV, hunched over the laptop, or shouting in a bar…
A few minutes of meditation:·        Mindfulness meditation·        Breathing techniques·        Pilates·        T’ai Chi·        Yoga·        Massage.
Or, don’t calm down! Instead of keeping your energy pent-up and suppressed, turn it into something useful. Even walking alone or with a dog, you breath fresh air, stretch legs, and see the colour green; organised sports mean you are socialising with others, conversing and laughing – all of which are mood-boosters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.08 – 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 works to their studio from yours?  More long-term prep is through investing in yourself: courses, training, one-to-ones, seminars and webinars, books and podcasts (we know a really good one!), chats with colleagues, studying others… and expose yourself to as many opportunities as possible. Only by doing that will you risk surprising and challenging your comfort zone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.07 – 0918 – Counselling For Mic Fright Psychological help and counsellingIf 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 anxiety or phobias, or you have a wide-ranging tendency to perfectionism, work through these issues with a suitable psychotherapist.  If your fears are based on shaky or inadequate technique, book yourself some time with a trusted teacher or expert in your field.[2] ·        Expect and accept it – understand what may happen and tell yourself that you are in control of you. Own it. Don’t challenge, ignore, try and hide, just face it.
[1] In the UK, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) may be available on the NHS through your GP or by contacting the “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies” (IAPT) scheme. Private therapists can be found via the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) or through the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). [2] Source: https://www.bapam.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BAPAM-Factsheet-Managing-Performance-Anxiety.pdf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.06 – 0917 – Have a No-Stress Rehearsal Have a Mental RehearsalVisualise 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 this, imagine it all going incredibly well. We have seen before how visualisation helps the voice-over artist when we are trying to persuade people to buy a product.
Starting with small steps practice mimicking the studio day in as much detail as possible:·        What will you wear and what time will you arrive?·        Research the VO studio on Google so you can see what it looks like inside and out. If you are speaking at an actual event, try and see the room beforehand so you feel comfortable there and eliminate ‘situational stress’. ·        Can you find pictures of the producer or director, or the guest you’re going to interview remotely?·        Ad-lib what you’ll say to them, how you’ll sit in the studio, your fluency and confidenceHow will you be feeling during all of this? (The answer is “cool and quietly confident”!)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.07.05 – 0916 – Remind Yourself Why You Care Remind yourself why you careWhy 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 hard to be a VO·        You’ve chosen to start a podcast·        You’ve been flattered when asked to be a guest on a YouTube discussion. It’s precisely because we want to stretch ourselves (perhaps for self-satisfaction, public admiration or financial gain – and there’s nothing wrong with any of that), that we put ourselves into situations that we’ve not encountered before. And doing something new will inevitably show up our weaknesses.  Write down the skills and strengths that’ve helped you get to where you are now. The courses and conferences, exercises and exams. Doing this will help give you comfort and confidence and a sense of positivity. If someone else thinks you’re good enough to do the job, why don’t you?
The word ‘confidence’ comes from the Latin ‘confidere’ meaning to ‘have full trust’. Now you need to have full trust in yourself, that you can do this.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.