I’ll keep it simple because I start the workshop with a loose plan that changes depending on who comes along.
Settling In and Setting Your Initial Intention
We always start by sharing how you feel about your voice. You share how it feels to come to this spoken voice workshop and what you want from the day. What would your ideal outcome be from attending the workshop?
Then I will gently ask you to say something that feels challenging for you; to share with the group. Ideally this will be whatever you have decided to “share” in the afternoon session but if that feels too much at this time you can say whatever feels safe to you.
I will then ask you to note down how this feels for you.
This is a barometer to compare with later on. I’ll call it Check In 1.
The Morning Session – Body and Breath Work
We spend the morning doing grounding work. Body and breath work.
All of this work will vary depending on you and your body.
This will involve checking in with your body.
We will look at your skeletal alignment, how you stand and how you can stand with more ease and less effort. This might feel weird. We often have habits that feel natural but are actually just habitual.
We will look at where you hold unnecessary muscular tension and we will certainly explore tongue and jaw release.
There will be lots of looking at how you breathe and how you can make your in-breath deeper to really feel it expand your torso as you experience breathing as deeply as is possible for you.
Grounding You In a Safe Space Inside Your Body
All of this work is to calm your system.
To get you out of fight and flight and into rest and digest.
The body work is to release as much tension as is possible for you, on that day, in the place that you are in mentally, physically and emotionally.
The breath work stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system directly by stimulating the vagus nerve.
We then compare how our voices feel now and compare it with Check In 2.
Then we will break for lunch.
The Afternoon Session
It is really hard for me to say what will happen in the afternoon session because it is entirely shaped by the people who attend the workshop.
You share something – what?
One by one you will speak something to the group that is a challenge for you. You don’t have to
do the most scary thing, please just push yourself as much or as little as you want to. If saying hello out loud is a challenge then just bring that.
You might say your name.
It might be saying what your business does and sharing a bit about your “offerings”.
You might be happy sharing a bit of Shakespeare or a poem.
Perhaps you will speak the lyrics to a song.
You do have to plan this in advance so that you have something concrete to share but you don’t have to prep. Just choose something.
Then I will work with you to bring about the change you want in your voice when speaking this.
I might have you pretending to be a 5 year old child.
I might give you a laryngeal massage or teach you how to massage yourself on your jaw or neck.
You might walk about as you speak.
You might stand very still, or you might rock yourself as though comforting the child inside you.
You might benefit from very practical exercises about largyneal position or tongue stretches.
We might play with prosody (the tune of your spoken voice.)
It is almost guaranteed we will work on different ways to release or engage your abs.
If it feels appropriate then whatever work I do with one person the whole group will do.
Whilst one person is the focus on the work the rest of the group either joins in with the exercises or is an active audience to the work.
After doing the individual work you will compare how your voice feels in comparison with
Final Check in
To close the day we share how we are all feeling, ensure that everyone feels safe and positive and I ensure everyone knows how to move forwards with their spoken voice journey (which I mistyped as joyride and rather like).
Do you have any questions about the day? If so get in touch, book a chat to ask me for more info