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Teaching Tips Editor: Baron Perlman – perlman@uwosh.edu |
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A Resource and a Risk
By Cathy Sargent Mester
What do most college professors have in common with Billy Joel, Reverend
Billy Graham, Bill Murray, and Bill Clinton? Few of us are named "Bill,"
so that's not it. Rather, it is our occupational dependence on our
voices. Like politicians, singers, actors, and preachers, teachers rely
on their voices as a rich resource, capable of conveying, clarifying,
and emphasizing ideas and feelings.
The nature of our daily work, like that of politicians and singers, also
puts our voices at risk. We speak for hours at a time, often in rooms
with poor air quality, and we must project our voices to the depths of
lecture halls with poor acoustics. There are a number of steps that any
of us can take to strengthen our voices and be the James Earl Jones of
our classrooms, speaking in vigorous, resonant tones that hold students'
attention and enlarge their comprehension.
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Variations in voice production are often within our deliberate control.
By consciously controlling specific muscle groups, we can create a more
richly expressive voice with plenty of carrying power.
Pitch
Speech scientists tell us that we each are physically able to use about
a two-octave range when we speak. Naturally, we rarely use the full
range, typically speaking within a few notes of our optimum pitch.
Being fairly elastic, the vocal bands can be stretched and relaxed,
causing pitch variations. The mass of each person's vocal bands is
genetically determined, making us each "natural" baritones, altos,
tenors, or sopranos. However, by changing the tension on the bands, we
can create a wide array of varying tones within that natural range.
Rate, Volume, and Timbre
Our typical speech rate, volume, and timbre likewise result from genetic
predisposition, but are subject to consciously created variations.
Volume and timbre, for instance, are strongly affected by the size,
shape, and sound-absorbing quality of the resonating cavities in our
heads, the largest being the mouth. Each mouth is a certain size, but by
dropping the lower jaw slightly and opening the lips wider, the size of
the oral cavity and its subsequent resonating power are drastically
changed.
Such capabilities lead many voice experts to assert that the human voice
is more expressive than any musical instrument. Because of its enormous
ability to be varied, the voice can convey the excitability of the
piccolo, the mournfulness of the sax, the ponderousness of the bass, or
the lighthearted glee of the tympani. We can each "play" our vocal
instrument more skillfully with certain types of care and practice.
With this background in mind, let us now consider the ways and means to
develop classroom voices that are both athletic enough to bear the
strain of talking all day and vigorous enough to provide plentiful
nonverbal cues to meaning.
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Since speaking comes from proper use of several muscle groups, experts
rightly refer to speaking as an "athletic" activity. As such, we can
make best use of our voices if we use the same practices of preparation
and exercise that the athlete does. Doing so should provide the speaker
with a voice that has endurance, power, and flexibility while avoiding
overexertion.
Tips for Fitness |
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Warm up regularly. Begin the day with
vocal stretching exercises. Appropriate exercises include
deep-breathing work to relax the chest and abdominal muscles that
will control the flow of breath needed for speaking. Do a few neck
rolls as well to stretch the neck muscles. By warming up physically
for the challenge of speaking, the muscle groups controlling
respiration, phonation, and resonation should be relaxed enough to
allow you to achieve varied expression.
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Practice diaphragmatic breathing. The
energy for speaking needs to come from the diaphragm, both to reduce
strain on the voice box and to provide the power needed to carry
your voice effectively. If your shoulders rise and fall as you
speak, you are using clavicular, not diaphragmatic breathing.
Switching the breathing power to the diaphragm takes considerable
practice, but will reduce vocal strain noticeably.
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Employ optimum posture and vocal exertion.
Standing up straight allows the diaphragm to be fully supported, the
resonating cavities to be properly aligned, and breathing to be
unimpeded. Trying to speak emphatically while sitting usually
involves leaning forward at the waist and jutting out the jaw. Such
exertion constrains diaphragmatic breathing and stretches the
muscles controlling vocalization, risking damage. Remember that
variations of expression to suit your meaning can be achieved with
just slight changes in tension on the vocal folds or a well-placed
pause: Screaming and shouting are not necessary.
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Proper hydration. Teachers who speak for
an hour or more should keep water bottles handy. Water or citrus
juices are best for vocal fold hydration - coffee actually hinders
your ability to sustain a strong speaking voice. Switch to water
with a little squirt of lemon and you will speak comfortably and
longer. As we grow older, the vocal folds are naturally drier and
less flexible, so hydration becomes especially important.
Avoid smoking. Smoking is a bad habit for anyone, but especially for
those who need to sustain healthy voices. Smoke dries out the vocal
folds, making them less flexible and therefore less expressive and
more susceptible to injury.
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Avoid throat clearing. Note the frequency
with which you "clear" your throat. That little semicough makes the
vocal folds smack roughly together. A better response to a perceived
throat tickle or phlegm buildup is to take a sip of water and a
deep, cleansing breath.
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Sore Throats and Laryngitis
Despite all our best efforts, we do occasionally develop sore throats or
full-fledged laryngitis. The result can be disastrous. Clinton lost his
voice at a crucial point in his 1992 presidential campaign, leading to a
disruptive hiatus in his travels. Similarly, John Kerry lost a crucial
day of campaigning in Iowa during the January 2004 primary election due
to laryngitis. In 1998, Joel incurred serious damage to his vocal folds
and had to cancel a six-month tour. Can you imagine if a teacher had to
stop talking for that long! Even going silent for a day is hard to
abide.
If struck with laryngitis, silence is absolutely the best therapy. Even
whispering can damage the vocal folds. Do not just talk in class,
choosing silence only when convenient: Go completely silent. This calls
for some real creativity if you must still teach, but is necessary for
long-term vocal health. Write out some discussion questions for the
class, show a film, and let students actually do the teaching -
anything, as long as you do not vocalize for a day or two.
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The literature on teacher effectiveness references vocal expressiveness
as a factor perceived as beneficial. By varying our expression, we
clarify for students the distinctions between important and peripheral
points in our lecture; we hold their attention; and we convey to them
that this material is interesting, perhaps even incredibly fascinating.
Our vocal expression, however, is very much a matter of habit. Those who
are accustomed to speaking relatively blandly will have to work harder
to achieve dynamic expression. And old habits are hard to break.
Breaking the Monotone Habit
If students have told you that you speak in a monotone, you will first
need to learn to recognize that tendency in yourself. Audio or
videotaping is the best mechanism for such self-monitoring. Tape
yourself in a couple of classes. Look at your notes to identify the most
important points you intended to emphasize in each class. Then, listen
to the tape at those emphatic points to determine if your vocal
expression changed accordingly. Was there a perceptibly lower or higher
or more varied pitch used? Was the idea set off with significant pauses?
Was the most important idea spoken more slowly or more resonantly? If
none of these devices are regularly apparent in the taped lectures, then
the students were right.
You can modify monotonal habits by planning changes in vocal pitch,
rate, volume, or timbre for each lecture. However, that is likely to
result in a delivery that seems awkwardly choreographed. President
Gerald Ford, for instance, once planned specific changes in delivery to
enliven a key televised speech; however, he appeared so marionette-like
that one of his sons called him later that night to tell him how badly
he had done.
The better approach is a more systemic revision of vocal use. Start by
critically listening to voices that you admire or recognize as more
expressive than your own. Listen closely, identifying emphatic moments
and the vocal cues alerting the listeners to that emphasis. Try to
commit the flow of that model's speech to your aural memory, gradually
emulating it in your own speaking. Be sure to emulate, not imitate. Try
to capture the rhythmic flow of the more expressive voice within your
own pitch range and personality. With time and persistence, you will
become more "multitonal."
Exercising Your Way to Expressiveness
Following the tape-assisted analysis of your voice, you are ready to
undertake some exercises to achieve desirable vocal modifications.
Several of the references provided at the end of this column include
vocal exercises to expand pitch range, modify speech speed, enhance
vocal resonance, among other things.
To improve speed, swimmers wear ankle or arm weights during practice, so
that they'll have more strength to meet the unweighted demands of normal
competition. Likewise, if we want to improve our use of our full pitch
range, we should do exercises demanding extreme reach within our range.
One exercise is to speak the sentence, "Who was that masked man?" with
at least four different meanings.* Doing so requires fairly dramatic
pitch and rate changes to emphasize distinctly different parts of the
message. There are exercises to enhance resonation, improve speaking
rate, reduce timbre problems, increase vocal projection, etc. Here are a
couple of examples to illustrate the possibilities: |
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Rate: For those who speak at an
unchanging rate with few meaningful pauses, try reciting the final
stanza of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," deliberately saying each
day's gift at a slower or faster pace than its predecessor. Be sure
to pause enough between days to get a breath and readjust your
mental pace.
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Resonation: Those who speak at a higher
pitch than preferred, or whose voices do not carry well, should try
exercises that enhance oral resonation, such as the classic, "How
now brown cow?" The goal here is to open the mouth wider on the "ow"
sounds, creating a more resonant oral cavity.
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Timbre: There are a variety of exercises
designed to increase vocal quality (timbre), depending on the
particular quality you want to modify. Those whose voices tend to be
too breathy, for instance, can work on controlling that excess by
reciting the "Husbandless Hannah Hughes" monologue, which requires
sustaining 10 or 12 words littered with the breath-wasting "H"
phoneme.
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None of these exercises is a quick fix. A regular
regimen of such exercises will, however, produce a much-improved range
of natural vocal expression over time.
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The human voice is a treasure whose potential we hear realized in the
singing of Placido Domingo, the poetry of Maya Angelou, and the acting
of Anthony Hopkins. We also have heard it in the teaching of those
instructors who are enthusiastic about their subject and who work at
developing healthy habits of vocal expression, allowing their enthusiasm
to be obvious. Any of us can join that pantheon by practicing sensible
habits of vocal care and exercise.
As long as there are no pre-existing physiological problems, anyone can
break the monotone habit with patient and dedicated effort. The effort
will be rewarded with new or enhanced skills that help attract and hold
student attention, place clarifying emphasis, and establish the
instructor's credibility.
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1. Eisenson, J., & Eisenson, A. (1996). Voice
and diction: A program for improvement. New York: Macmillan.
2. Hahner, J. C., Sokoloff, M., & Salisa, S. (2002). Speaking
clearly: Improving voice and diction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
3. Mayer, L. V. (2004). Fundamentals of voice and articulation. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
4. Sataloff, R. T. (2000).
http://www.voicefoundation.org/library/vocalhealth.pdf.
5. University of Pittsburgh Voice Center. (2001). Frequently asked
questions regarding voice problems.
http://voicecenter.upmc.com.
UPMC Health System.
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CATHY SARGENT MESTER is senior lecturer in
speech communication at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College,
specializing in public address education. In 32 years of college
teaching, she has taught general education courses for undergraduates as
well as advanced public speaking courses, numerous workshops, and
seminars for educators and managers. She is the recipient of the
college's Excellence in Academic Advising Award and the Benjamin A. Lane
Award for Service. Source: American Psychological
Society, February 2000, Vol. 18, No. 2 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1727,
accessed April 2006. |
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