SELF CARE FOR A HEALTHY VOICE OVER CAREER

If you are a full time or part time VO Talent voicing many scripts each day, you may have noticed your voice is constantly changing throughout the day. As the day wears on, your voice may become slightly higher pitched, raw and/or tired sounding. As VO professionals, how do we overcome this challenge when you are faced with high performance expectations and ever more scripts? The number one action that works for me is to ensure a good nights sleep. This may sound basic and obvious but have you noticed how rich and textured your voice sounds in the morning after waking up? The muscles are relaxed. There is no tension. Without a goods nights sleep, we start the day in the wrong track. Additionally, sufficient sleep helps us to be better able to focus and stay present in the read. If you live in a dry climate or the air in your room becomes dry, invest in a cool mist humidifier, hydrate often and for dry mouth I use a mouth spray called Biotene. I also take breaks between voice overs to ‘reset’ myself. Daily exercise and meditation/reflection is also very helpful. By practicing the above, you can preserve that rich sound throughout the day, stay more present and attract incredible opportunities and win more auditions.