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Health Care and Equipment  » Voice Care for Coaches

Voice Care for Coaches

By Catherine Franz

Coaches rely heavily on their voice to service clients.

If you also give teleclasses or workshops, voice

maintenance needs to be one of their top self-care

priorities. This information also applies to singers,

speakers, or sales professionals.

During flu and cold season, vocal cords become highly

sensitized and need as much care as a valuable

instrument. Think of your voice, and we should, as an

expensive, rare violin. If you were going to play the

violin the next day -- same relation as having a

speaking engagement or a full day of coaching -- you

wouldn't expose that violin to a night in a smoke

filled room, lay cigars or pour alcohol all over it and

expect it not to suffer from the abuse the next day.

Antibiotics don't help viral infections or laryngitis

-- a common result from a viral infection caused from a

cold or flu. Recently, I suffered got the flu and

suffered from a severe case of laryngitis. I had to

cancel a teleclass, lose a week of work, and almost a

paid speaking engagement. The more I self-treated

through media knowledge or recommendations, the worse

the laryngitis got.

It took over 20 days before I improved and then two

weeks later, it returned. After great frustration, I

finally visited my ear, nose, and throat specialist,

only to learn that everything I was trying was actually

contributing the extended suffering. Let me pass along

some of my learning so you don't need to go through

this. Like me, some of it will surprise you.

Food and Beverages

Warm or hot beverages work best. Cold beverages with

ice produces the voice center to spasm generating

coughing that results in laryngitis. Stick to drinking

room temperature water.

Black Currant Pastilles, which are glycerin-containing

lozenges for adults, keeps the throat moist. Pastilles

are perfect to take before, during, and after flying or

traveling from one temperature extreme to another, say

New York to Florida in winter. It is good to have

these on hand since they are difficult to find. Many

professional singers use Black Currant Pastilles 24

hours before their performance.

Avoid anything with mint or menthol.

Throat Coat® Tea, designed specifically for voice

professionals, is rated higher than Pastilles. The tea

contains licorice root, which is widely used to enhance

throat and upper respiratory tract health. Any

beverage that affects your stomachs acid level, like

caffeine, will also affect your vocal cords. Caffeine

is a mild diuretic and dries the throat and vocal

cords. Coffee, including decaf, due to its natural

oils causes acidic results that cause vocal damage.

This includes chocolate. If you suffer from acid

reflux disease, you need to take extra care of your

voice since it cause permanent damage. Sodas also

cause acid reflux and damages vocal cords.

With a cold or flu, we usually drink orange juice.

This acidic beverage actually lengthens laryngitis. So

does the amount of lemon you use in water. A tiny bit

of lemon in warm water with a small amount of honey is

a great elixir that actually smoothes the vocal cords.

Dairy increases throat mucus for some people. If after

you drink milk, you feel even a little mucus in your

throat, you probably have a very mild milk allergy.

This will affect your vocal health and can length

laryngitis. Nuts have the same allergy affect.

Common Causes of Voice Strain

It’s common knowledge that shouting, screaming, and

excessive talking strains voice cords. But, did you

know that whispering, coughing, loud sneezing, crying,

laughing, and throat clearing could do the same damage?

Emotional or environmental stress also causes voice

strain. Especially major changes like separation/

divorce, new job, kids going off to college, grieving,

not enough sleep, moving, and even hormonal changes in

adolescents or maturing adults. If you add any of

these with the need for a quality voice, you will need

to take extra care in order not to bruise or damage

your throat center or vocal cords.

Voice Maintenance

When experiencing laryngitis, limit unnecessary

talking, and pause frequently to swallow and remoisten

your throat, even during speaking engagements.

Relaxation techniques, like yoga always help, yet

conscious aware of your posture and breathing during

speaking can save or further bruise voice projection

especially if your voice is weak from a cold.

One of my favorite exercises that I do every morning or

while driving to a speaking engagement is a vowel

review. Stretch your neck comfortable upwards and

recite the vowels -- a, e, i, o, u. Let your vowel

trail off after each one especially the "u." If

experiencing laryngitis avoid whispering. Whispering

actually stresses vocal cords reducing recovery

significantly. If you smoke or visit smoke-filled

rooms, triple your maintenance plan, smoke is very

damaging.

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If you lose your voice, you will require additional

rest time over a 4-7 day period. This means limiting

your voice to 15 minutes a day. Looking on the bright

side, listening skills will definitely improve. Keep

phone calls brief; avoid all non-speech voice use,

including throat clearing, coughing, and sneezing or

any odd sound effects. Snoring also doubles strain.

Over-the-Counter

Even though they give brief relief, throat sprays and

medicated lozenges dry the throat and extend recovery.

If used for an emergency, you must follow with extreme

care.

Herbs can also cause side effects. You will want to

discuss their use with your doctor or herb

practitioner. Herbs like barberry reduce inflammation

and infection caused from respiratory infections, but

can also cause an allergic reaction especially if

already using another remedy. Herbs like eucalyptus,

German chamomile, goldenrod, goldenseal, licorice,

marshmallow, peppermint, saw palmetto, or slippery elm

are remedies for vocal cord inflections. Adding garlic

and ginger to your foods also reduce cold symptoms

including sore throat and don't need professional

advice.

Support Team

If your voice is vital to your income, you will want to

have an ear, nose, and throat physician familiar with

your medical history and working with singers. With an

ongoing relationship, it’s easier for them to provide

advice when out of the area.

Last year, while experiencing a mild case of

laryngitis, I saw my doctor before I left for a

speaking engagement but I didn't know to mentioned I

was traveling to a high elevation. By the time I

checked in at the hotel, I was in bad shape. An

emergency call and I was armed with new instructions.

The next morning I was fine. Did you know that most

taxi companies will pick up and deliver called-in

prescriptions usually at the same rate as a cab ride?

(c) Copyright 2005, Catherine Franz. All rights

reserved.

About the Author

Catherine Franz, a eight-year Certified Professional

Coach, Graduate of Coach University, Mastery

University, editor of three ezines, columnist, author

of thousands of articles website:

http://www.abundancecenter.com

blog: http://abundance.blogs.com