Overview of the Voice Course

This Voice Course offers techniques to help keep an individual from experiencing laryngitis or vocal fatigue when talking to customers on the telephone or in various work environments everyday, all day long. Useful for anyone who depends upon their voice to make their living, 11 techniques such as what to do instead of excessive throat clearing or coughing are taught, then 21 techniques for how to improve the speaking voice are given. All techniques are done against the general background of the anatomy and physiology of vocal production including features of respiration (breathing), phonation (voicing), and resonation (vibration). It enables an individual to improve their pitch, loudness, and quality by learning specific techniques and exercises for when experiencing vocal difficulties or for when trying to maintain one's best speaking voice. A brief overview for a public speaking presentation is also outlined. Customers will be able to understand the sales force better, and employees will feel better not being vocally exhausted at the end of the day

Too often today's workers seeking vocal instruction are frustrated by costs, work schedules, and locations that make availability of such instruction difficult. However, by taking this Course, these problems are addressed. Freedom and flexibility afforded by current Internet technology form the basis of the program. Voice problems encountered in the job setting are approached through unique techniques. For example, the use of actual recorded training sessions provide a cost effective and time saving method of vocal self-improvement and voice preservation. Audio and visual practice materials are provided online in real-time, step-by-step sessions.

Note: Speech-language pathologists may wish to refer clients to this course if: clients cannot afford to see you for face-to-face services in the near future; you cannot schedule clients into your caseload in a timely manner; you would like your clients to have some training before you begin working with them; or you would like to give your clients a resource for reinforcement after you have worked with them.

Determining your Need for the Voice Course

The Voice Course is designed to be taken by those without vocal fold pathology. If you do much talking in your workday such as an accountant, air traffic controller, consultant, customer service representative, dispatcher, doctor, lawyer, minister, musician, realtor, receptionist, sales person, stock broker, teacher, technical support provider, television newscaster, or enjoy recreational singing such as with barbershop groups, or if you use your voice in noisy environments such as restaurants, bars, factories or machine shops, or police, fire or construction sites, this Course can benefit you. For a more detailed description of who is a good candidate for this Voice Course, go to the “Your Need?” section of the website.

Who Should Not Take the Voice Course

Warning: Medical problems including any possible cancer must be addressed by treatment not included in this on-line self-study Voice Course. This Voice Course should not be attempted if you have experienced hoarseness for more than ten days, if you are coughing up blood or yellow-green mucus, if it is hard for you to breathe or swallow, if you have a high fever, if you feel like you have a “lump in your throat” or have hard, swollen lymph glands in your neck, or if you have physical vocal problems UNLESS you have been evaluated and APPROVED for such instruction by your doctor.

Structure of the Course
This Course requires approximately 6 hours to complete. Individuals may take the Course all in one day, or do it section-by-section. This Course has downloadable handouts which can be kept for future reference after the time period for your Course has expired. It is the learner's responsiblity to download them during the time allotted before the Course's expiration. The first part of the Course presents a general overview of the anatomy and physiology of the vocal mechanism; the second involves exercises designed to help an individual who is experiencing vocal distress; the third part provides techniques and exercises which aid an individual in maintaining a good speaking voice. Finally, this Course ends with a brief overview of how to design a public speaking presentation.

You will have the option to take a Pre-Test before you start the Course, and a Post-Test and Evaluation form after you finish the Course. This will help you to evaluate your success in learning the materials presented in the Voice Course.