Unfiltered Thoughts

2023.05.15 – 0865 – Coping With Covid Coping with long covidA small percentage of people who have had Covid-19 continue to have symptoms after 12 weeks, but because of the huge number of people who have had the disease, that’s a large actual number of people. This is known by health professionals in the UK and many other countries as ‘post covid syndrome’ or (by the WHO) ‘post covid condition’ (although some doctors still doubt the existence of this altogether).
There is no specific treatment to what can be a cocktail of complaints (including but not limited to fatigue; shortness of breath; palpitations; stomach issues; brain fog; mental health; headaches and dizziness), which affects each person differently.
For our purposes, shortness of breath is perhaps the most important symptom: ‘disordered breathing’, using the upper chest, shoulders and neck. Do not self-diagnose, as it may be caused by something other than covid, but go and see a health professional. Before the appointment, you could try some very gentle breathing exercises to train yourself how to breath properly again. Some people have subsequently been referred to respiratory physio therapists or attend rehabilitation groups. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.14 – 0864 – Don’t Forget Your Ears EarsYou need to know what you sound like so you can adjust your voice or your mic, and make some sometimes subtle changes in pitch or timbre. You may be asked to imitate a certain style of voice or personality, so attuned ears will help you hear, interpret and reproduce the subtleties. And of course, you need to clearly hear instructions from a director or producer, either through a talkback speaker or an earpiece. It is possible to act without full hearing[1], but, as with your eyes, things will be much easier for you if you look after and possibly enhance what you have already got:·        Avoid loud music in bars, sports events and concerts … and headphones·        Avoid pushing things like cotton buds into your ear canal·        Invest in some good headphones and speakers. The ability to hear yourself clearly and accurately will help reduce vocal strain. Ensure that the volume is not too high. ·        Adjusting your acoustic environment will avoid sound reflection and enhance your recording experience, help you hear more accurately and maintain your vocal health. We have looked before at how, how you hear yourself is different from how others hear you, and the reasons behind this (episode 595). Here’s a fun exercise: plug your ears when speaking. This will help you experience your own voice intensified through increased internal resonance as you won’t be able to hear your own voice with your ears at all. What do you do instinctively? Perhaps you lower the intensity of your voice, which will also have the effect of reducing the strain on your vocal folds.
[1] The brilliant BBC actress and dancer Rose Ayling-Ellis is testament to that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Ayling-Ellis#:~:text=Rose%20Lucinda%20Ayling%2DEllis%20(born,EastEnders%20(2020%E2%80%932022).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.13 – 0863 – Eye Exercises
And a few exercises:Pencil Push-UpsHold a pencil at arm’s length and focus on the tip. Move it closer and continue to focus. Repeat, moving it back and forth forcing your eyes to work-out.
The Figure of Eight Pick an imaginary point on the floor or across the room, about 10 feet away. Focus on it and with your pupils moving, draw a figure of eight in the space there, for about 30 seconds before switching direction.
20/20For every 20 minutes of near work, look at a target 20 feet away for 20 seconds before returning to your ‘near’ work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.12 – 0862 – Don’t Forget Your Eyes
Your eyes and earsMost voice trainers overlook these critical body parts and the role they play in helping you get a better voice, but let’s spend a few moments doing just that here and now with a few considerations.
EyesWithout stating the obvious, and with acknowledgement to the awesome voice actors who are blind and read their scripts with braille[1], eyes help you do your job. Not just clearly reading the words that you have to say, but also the notes you have made alongside the text with added instructions, and following what others are saying so you know when to start. Sharp visual focus will reduce verbal slips and so increase your confidence, and so your voice.
It’s not purely ‘seeing’. Your eyes need to track and dart across the page and glance ahead to see your next cue too.
I won’t go into details about eye-health apart from mentioning:·        Good diet·        Good glasses·        Rest from screens·        Blinking to keep them moist (blinking stimulates the lubricating secretion of your tear ducts and spread them across your eyes) and the possible use of eye heat masks to relieve eye fatigue and soreness.·        Refocusing at different distancesSleep - Six-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half hours is the healthy range for most adults and it not only benefits your eyes but also your whole body. A tired body, perhaps caused by a broadcaster’s shift work, is a tired voice! Weariness can drag down the muscles of the face, put a sigh in the voice and extinguish any sparkle. [1] Ryan Kelly is an actor in the BBC radio serial “The Archers” – and happens to be blind: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/interviews/13_questions_ryan_kelly.shtml#:~:text=Blind%20actor%20Ryan%20Kelly%20is,Radio%204%20soap%2C%20The%20Archers. “A lot of the other actors read their lines, lucky things! I have to get the script emailed to me so I can edit it down to my part and learn it by listening. It ends up being in computer speak though, like a robot, which can be quite funny. In the old days I had to have someone read it out to me, and once I learned completely the wrong part, which was very embarrassing.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.11 – 0861 – Feeling Attractive vs. Sounding Unobstructed Even though Connie was a radio presenter, she always came in immaculately dressed. Fitted suits, or tight jeans or blouses that left little to the imagination. The problem was that Connie couldn’t get to the end of even a moderately long sentence without having to take another breath. The problem seemed obvious: the clothes were making breath intake, support and control all difficult. But Connie knew that how she dressed made her look good, and feel good and that gave her confidence. A balance that only Connie could make was reached between feeling attractive and being unobstructed.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.10 – 0860 – Tight Clothes, Tight Voice What else will affect your vocal performance?ClothesWhat won’t help, anything that causes constriction or discomfort
Tight dresses, trousers, blouses and shirts. Belts done up a notch or two more than absolutely necessaryTight shoes worn more for style than comfort. That could be footwear that pinches your toes or heel, the height or slope of a heel, or simply wearing a style that you are not used to (for example, the heeled shoes that are super-comfy yet you totter around because you rarely wear them). If you feel unstable literally, you may feel ‘unstable’ emotionally tooGoing without socks or tights to look smart or trendy, but having shoe-rub on your heel or sticky soles.
What will help:Looser clothes (A woman I once worked always turned up very smart and trim, but she struggled to read. It turned out that her blouse was so tight it restricted her diaphragm, and so created tension in her neck for her to produce sound. She was buttoned-up literally and metaphorically. She never wore that blouse to work again and was fine.)
Clothes that make you feel confident about the way you look
Clothes that won’t make you too hot or too cold so you are worried more about sweating or shivering than about communicating
Shoes that you don’t give a second’s thought to. Lower heels that help you stand upright. Shoes that pinch, or heels that are too high, will cause problems either in the foot or elsewhere in the body as your posture tries to compensate. (High heels can affect your voice if you are standing up, because they cause you to change your posture, and so how your ribcage sits. Your body works really hard to support you: you contract various muscles, pitch forward and overcorrect in your back to keep yourself from falling forward.)
Pain causes distraction and that will affect your performance. Many TV presenters who sit behind a desk will be smartly attired above the waist, but wear comfortable soft shoes that they know will never be seen.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.09 – 0859 – Myth 5: Dark-coloured Pee Means You Are Dehydrated
Myth #5: Dark-coloured pee means you're dehydratedPee is dark because of the concentration of various elements in it, but that doesn’t of itself mean you need more water.
It’s actually more accurate to look at the concentration of sodium in your blood, but as that’s not usually practical, some experts[1] say drinking enough water to keep your urine a light, straw-yellow colour is a simple and effective monitoring system.
[1] https://www.hydrationforhealth.com/en/why-hydration/everyday-hydration/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.08 – 0858 – Myth 4: Drinking Water Can Help You Lose Weight
Myth #4: Drinking water can help you lose weightOK, maybe if you drink a few glasses before a meal, you’ll eat less[1] but that’s not the case for everyone[2], although obviously if water is replacing a sugar-rich fizzy drink then sure, you’ll be taking in fewer calories.
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25893719/ [2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17228036/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.07 – 0857 – Myth 3: We Need ‘Sports Drinks’
Myth #3: We need sports drinks to replace salt and other electrolytesThere’s usually no need to reach for the expensive coloured water after a work-out as you can usually replace lost salt by consuming more basic and cheaper, although not as trendy, food and drink.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.06 – 0856 – Myth 2: Caffeine Makes You Dehydrated
Myth #2: Caffeine makes you dehydratedThe effect is almost miniscule and the 1928 research the claim is based on[1] doesn’t hold up to todays’ more rigorous research. NPR says “Essentially, with the exception of higher alcohol-content beverages like hard liquor, all liquids count towards hydration. As does food. The experts we spoke to say about 20% of your fluid intake comes from the food you eat, from fruits and vegetables to pasta.”
[1] https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/33/2/167 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.