Mary is making such lovely progress in her speaking. Her breathing coordination is clearer, her head/spine balance is much better. Mary was preparing to give a workshop last week to educators. It was also a review for her, so there was a lot of pressure on her. She had to talk from a script and use a powerpoint presentation that included directed activities for the workshop participants. The last time she was reviewed, she was told that she had to be more formal in her approach and pitch her voice lower for greater authority. Mary is naturally a petite and bubbly woman and very relational, so these instructions were difficult for her.
When Mary started to give her presentation to me in her session last week, I noticed she was pressing down on her larynx a lot, which increased her dysphonia to the point where her entire sound stopped. I asked her if she could speak a little higher in her range, which is when she told me about her last review. I suggested that she use more formal, direct language since she would be talking to adults instead of children, instead to trying to drop the pitch of her speaking voice. Mary's voice has a lot of head resonance and it flows and carries naturally just a few half-steps above where she was trying to talk. The more direct form of communication increased her poise and confidence.
Mary came back this week feeling like she had achieved a personal best in her presentation. There was no mention in her review of needing to pitch her voice lower for authority. Success! :)
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