#023 -How to Tell if Stress is Affecting Your Voice and What You Can Do About It (VIDEO)

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[00:00:00] All righty. Hey, welcome back. Find your voice, rock your confidence, podcast, Facebook group, YouTube, it's all under the same title. I am Sloane Reali, your host. If we have not met, I am so glad that you are here. I hope that you will find some incredible value in all of the episodes. But today is extra special.

I'm very excited. Today's topic is uncovering the hidden impact of stress. on your voice and unleashing your true communication potential. What we want to identify is first of all, is stress affecting your voice and we're going to do a little assessment. So right now. Before we get rolling here, if you can grab a pen and a paper, I just have a few questions for you, and you're going to [00:01:00] answer either A, B, or C, and then based on your answers, I am going to give you some things that you can do about it if your voice actually is being affected by stress.

Before we jump in, I'm really big on quotables. I love my quotes of the week. Today is really special because it's from an artist, actually. She's a singer. Artist extraordinaire. This is her quote. I have insecurities, of course, but I don't hang out with anyone who points them out to me. And that was by Adele.

I love that. We all have insecurities, right? We all have things. About ourselves, the way we look, the way we are, the way our voice sounds, there's all kinds of things, but we just, we hang out with the people who bring us up instead of tear us down. And today's topic is how, what are those things happening in your voice that could potentially be.

Tearing things down for you either in and today is really catered more towards [00:02:00] the business professional But this is always accurate for anything that we're doing or using our voice for Today the first thing, you know this topic first as we dive into this is of utmost significance I

I can attest Personally, professionally with the thousands of clients that I have served, there's a definite link between stress and your vocal performance. So join me on this little, I'm going to get a little bit clinical but still very compelling journey as we reveal the truth and equip you with potent strategies to elevate your voice today.

Right here right now before we're even done with this podcast So the first topic here the subtle saboteur stresses impact on your voice. So prepare yourself [00:03:00] We're going to a candid examination of the effects of stress on your vocal expression Contrary to what some may believe Stress is no respecter of eloquence.

It can silently undermine your communication skills. Tension in your body often induces stress. and extends its grasp to the delicate vocal cords, resulting in pitch fluctuations, uncontrolled breaks, and vocal fatigue. It's crucial to recognize these symptoms early on and take a decisive action. So hopefully you've got that pen and paper handy.

Sit by, I've got a couple of questions. So let's figure this out. To what extent that stress might be interfering with your voice. And then what we're going to do is engage what I'm going to give you right now is a brief assessment to gain valuable insights into your current vocal state. So let's [00:04:00] start with let your pen hand.

Here's the question. When facing high pressure situations, does your voice? A, exude nervous energy, possibly manifesting as an accelerated erratic pace. B, exhibit signs of strain, akin to a strained violin string, on the brink of snapping, you know that, right? Does your voice do this? Or C, project confidence and authority, leaving a lasting impact on your audience.

So let me review those. And this is specific if you are under a high pressure situation. So there, it could be work, it could be relationships school. Does your voice, A, exude nervous energy at an accelerated, erratic pace, B, [00:05:00] exhibit signs of strain, or C, project confidence and authority? So that's your first question.

Question number two, during pivotal business interactions, this is very specific, Do you find your voice, A, succumbing to anxiety? Resulting in stumbling speech and disjointed articulation be struggling to convey your message effectively hindered by an enfeebled vocal presence or see commanding attention resonating with power and conviction.

So again, second question during pivotal business interactions, and this could be. business. If you're a doctor, it's you with your patients. If you are a coach, it's you with your with your athletes. It could be, [00:06:00] anything related to and or somehow connected to business. The main thing is that it's at a pivotal moment.

What happens to your voice when you have to take some sort of action and the choices were a succumbing to anxiety resulting in stumbling speech and disjointed articulation be struggling to convey your message effectively. Or C, commanding attention, resonating with power and conviction. So now, let's go and decode this assessment.

Here are your insights or the solutions, right? Should your assessment reveal concerns, there's no cause for alarm, armed with insights and actionable solutions. That's what I'm going to give you right now. You can address the root of the issue and achieve vocal mastery. So solution one, actually I have three solutions [00:07:00] based on the answers that you just came up with in your assessment, how your voice reacts, whether it reacts or responds to situations.

So the first solution, and I have talked and shared ad nauseum On the podcast and the Facebook group and the mini courses and my website, the power of controlled breathing, learning how to breathe correctly. It is a not enough friends just to breathe. It's not enough. It's really important that you know how to breathe correctly.

Are you breathing deep extended breaths connected and supported to your solar plexus muscle? Or are you a short, shallow breather? Hyperventilating, right? The, and I'm going to come back to that. The next solution we're going to talk about voice release. I'm going to give you some text that we're going to read.

That you're going to repeat and we're going to [00:08:00] release any tension and your third solution is projecting supreme confidence, right? And confidence is something I believe that if you practice enough, there is a point where anything going on in your head around your confidence or your abilities eventually will quiet.

Down and the other information, the new information will override. In fact, when I'm working with clients, starting in that very first session, we are always dealing with connecting the mental brain to what your physical body is doing. And early on when I'm working with new clients, I'm asking you to do a lot of interesting things.

The breathing, the exercises, the vocalizing, a lot of it can feel really weird. It can feel loud if you're not used to making sound that is loud. It can feel very awkward and strange early on. In the beginning of my work, With clients. We are doing [00:09:00] things that are really kind of over the top. It's very militant.

It's very consistent. And we're doing these strange, weird things to override. Any of those tapes playing in your head regarding your voice. So what happens is early on, there's conflict. There's this battle between your mental brain and your physical body. And it's, they're kind of at odds with each other.

And then what happens with consistency over time, and it doesn't take forever. This work is really literally a matter of weeks if you are doing the work. And what will happen is that. friction, that conflict between your brain and your body will start to subside a little bit, and then they will start to kind of work together, but not all the way, and then we'll get some positive.

Very often it will feel as if you are taking two steps forward and one step back, but ideally, Ultimately, So [00:10:00] what happens is early on, there's a very clear conflict between your mental brain, your physical body turns into them kind of working together. And then ultimately over time. And again, it doesn't take forever. This is a matter of weeks. Is the brain and body will come together hand in hand and start to work together.

That is the goal. That's where we're heading with it. That's why early on, I asked my clients to do some really strange things. They may be weird. They've been working and they're wonderful for over two decades, which is why I haven't deviated from how I was taught to teach this stuff. So let's go back to your solutions.

The first one, the power of the breath. So unlocking the potential purposeful breathing. Is this is your ally in combating any stress induced vocal limitation is your it starts with the breath. I've been saying all along now for weeks. I don't know how many [00:11:00] episodes were in 2022 23 episodes. Breath is your best friend.

Learn how to do it and learn how to do it correctly for using your voice consciously. Learn how to deeply inhale through the nose or mouth all the way down to that solar plexus muscle, moving that belly button away from your spine as you inhale, contracting on the exhale, moving your belly button towards the spine on the exhale, right?

This practice is not only going to alleviate stress, it's also going to relax. The whole vocal apparatus. It's going to enable clearer, more impactful communication. It's going to slow down your respiratory rate. It's going to calm your nervous system. So anything going on in your head about difficult conversations just through the power of breathing.

And I've got a million exercises. It's going to change that. solution number two, [00:12:00] embrace the voice release technique. So what we're going to do here is we're going to invite strength and resilience into your vocal delivery. through a voice release. So what we're going to do first thing you're likely sitting, you are totally welcome to stand. You can lay down on the floor.

The important thing is we want to make sure you have nice straight body alignment. So imagine there's a string at the top of your head that runs all the way through. It's like that human straw. thing that comes all the way through down through your throat, down through the lungs, down past your belly button, all the way down to that root energy center in your body.

So you're sitting up nice and tall, shoulders are rolled up and back, opening up all that heart space there, staying relaxed. And what I want you to do is you're going to emanate

From [00:13:00] that place of power from your solar

you're sitting tall or standing folders are relaxed. We're going to envision your words emanating from that place of power within you. Your place of power is the solar plexus. That is the place. That is the energy center in the body that we create from. And the words are, I love these. I am, we're going to inhale.

I am,

and then you're going to exhale the word enough. Let's do that again. But this time, it's not just the breath. It's not just the inhaling. I am. It's not just exhaling enough. But as you do this, I want you to channel any stress induced tension away from your vocal cords and into confident [00:14:00] enunciation, right?

We're going to liberate the, any tension, anything going on in your body vocally with the vocal cords. We're going to breathe in. And I want you to visualize, what does that look like? What does that look like? What does that feel like in your body? Let's do that again, both hands. On the solar plexus, face of creation, nice deep breath, inhale, I am, now let's release that and really embody that, I am enough, I don't need to be any more, I don't need to be any less, I am perfect in all my imperfections, I'm right here, I'm right now, and I am perfectly perfect, perfectly imperfect.

And most important for this exercise, enough. I'm in the right place at the right [00:15:00] time with the right people. I am enough, right? Simple, silly little exercise. How's your body feeling? How's your voice feeling? Feeling a little more relaxed? I think maybe you need to go take a nap, depending when you're watching this, maybe it's the end of the day and you're in a much better place to be able to go to bed without all the distractions and the monkey mind playing about all the things you didn't get done or you need to do or the conversations you still need to have, right?

Just let all that go. I can't say enough about where all of this lands also just in self care. Just generally speaking, self care, mental, good mental health it's my go to. It's why I'm still doing this work. It's why I am as healthy as I am today. From being very sick as a kid, to dealing with health issues all of my life, to [00:16:00] healthier than I've ever been in my entire life.

It's this work that I do. Every day, thousands of clients love it. Love you. If there, there is hope if you are dealing with any vocal issues whatsoever, I am your girl. Go get on my calendar. Let you don't need to suffer anymore. If you are dealing with vocal issues and you've tried everything and you're on the YouTubes and you're trying to do it by yourself and you just haven't figured out this one thing, stop suffering.

You don't have to suffer anymore. Don't get on my schedule. Let's work this thing out one session, one session with me. You will walk away changed. It's mind blowing. Can you tell I'm passionate? Can you tell how much I love this work enough already? Solution number three is all about projecting Supreme confidence, right?

And confidence is [00:17:00] confidence. Isn't that a thing? It's not an external confidence is inside of us. It's that. It's that extra energy that we get when we've had success. It's that peace that when we've done something that we were absolutely freaking terrified to do and we did it. And I've done things that absolutely, horseback riding, shout out to my horseback riding friends and my teachers and my trainers.

And I, during the pandemic, everything was shut down. I jumped right into was helping up at hearts. Therapeutic shout out to my people there. I ended up signing on with a another trainer. I actually learned how to really ride. I learned how to go round up and sort cattle. Every single time I would get on a horse and you don't always know the horses that you're getting on.

If you're fortunate, if the horses you're getting on terrifying very famous. Statement from one of my trainers. You never [00:18:00] know when they're going to blow. And boy, if that isn't correct, I probably spent more time falling off than I've spent in the saddles. But my point is to be able to do that and have success and see the results of that work, something that terrified me to do even after coming up, even after breaking my T1, so incredibly grateful.

Thank God. I am still walking today so close to having a horrible I don't even want to say it, but even after that injury, still being able to get back on the horse. And go and do what I was doing. Loved it. Learned a ton. Wish I had more time to do that. You heard my last podcast. I'm spending more time water skiing now.

So that's my thing now. Am I going to get up? Am I going to stay up? So solution number three, still on topic, project supreme confidence. So radiating authority and conviction we do by cultivating an unwavering [00:19:00] belief. In our ability and what we know that we're capable, maybe we haven't done it yet, but with the desire is there.

We want to get there. Somehow we might have to improvise to actually make it happen in unwavering belief in our message and unwavering belief in the service that you provide to your clients. I have zero doubt in the work and the results that I'm able to get with my clients. It's I've been successful over and over.

There's no doubt in my confidence level and being able to be of service. It's just is because I've done it so long with so many people now. So let's try this. Let's do a little visualization exercise as we might be bringing this to an end a little bit early today, but let's do a visualization exercise.

Picture yourself. As the architect, you are the architect of success, [00:20:00] shaping your destiny with every spoken word. Confidence, when embedded in your voice, instills trust in your audience, transforming potential clients. And I'm going to talk about how to turn listeners into loyal patrons. And, just a couple of examples.

I don't remember which podcast this was on. And I'll be coming back to those, but the one on elements in our voice. Earth, air, fire, water, metal. It's where I sang happy birthday, Marilyn Monroe style. If you listen to that go find that. Because I talk about the different elements and how they affect the listener in our voice.

If we have too much air, way up here, and too much breathiness. And you are working with a client or a potential client, you're trying to convert to a loyal customer. There's not going to be a whole lot of trust if you're ending everything with a question. Everything [00:21:00] is so what do you think? So this is how I can be a service.

These little vocal tics, these things that we do can actually repel. Our listener, right? What we want confidence exudes a lot of earth. Confidence has weight. Confidence has authority. Confidence is not moving really fast that, speed racer pace. It practices the power of the pause. It takes a break in between those really important points that you're trying to state.

If you're trying to help so often, I'm learning, when I'm in sales calls now or working with a client, maybe they're on the fence, they want to, but they're not sure what I'm running into more and more. It's not. a matter of whether I can help them or not. That's, I can always help.

I can always help. If you, if people have [00:22:00] reached out to me, if they've called, they've texted, they've e mailed, they've picked up my free gifts, they're reaching out for a reason. They have a problem that I can help them solve. But it's less about that when we're at the closing time, the commitment time, they're ready to lay down their cash.

And come and get on my schedule and less to do with any of that and more to do with just helping them make a decision. It's about decision making and if you are across the table or you're trying to help someone make a decision and you've got a lot of breath. Or maybe that hard core, maybe you got a lot of fire, maybe you're feeling a little bit pushy to them, they're like, Oh, right?

This is a balance. It is a dance friends. And it's more often about just helping them make a decision in moving forward than whether or not you can help with your product or service. Again, I can't, I love [00:23:00] visualization, I love breath, I love all the exercises that are available, and for today, Okay. So today friends, very exciting. My video gifts are still available. I don't know how much longer those are going to be available. So that has been broken down. It's 38 video tutorials. It was a, I called them webisodes. They were up on YouTube. Those are no longer available in that.

format. What is available is you can pick up the first eight videos. It's 25 minute viewing time total or listening. If you're just listening to the audio but you can pick those up. This is the discover the power of your voice. Now, if you want the next set, which I cover the elements is the next module.

And then following that, the seven energy centers in the body, how all of that relates to your voice. You can pick those up [00:24:00] when you register. And this is the last week that you can register for my live workshop event happening the end of the month. Radiate Confidence, the Ultimate Vocal Transformation, friends.

It's a ladies event. Sorry, guys. This one's for the ladies. This is the last week that you can pick up those videos for that event. And then when you attend the event, At the end of the month, ladies, you get the last of the modules. So the whole set is 38. I want to say it was a set when I listened to them and ran all the way through.

It's about 75 minutes total viewing, listening time. Nuggets, like it's all my stuff, years, it's little two minute, real short, practical tutorials that you can do. You can watch them all at once if you want, or you can spread them out over a couple of weeks. How, whatever your learning style, go make it work for yourself.

That is what I've got [00:25:00] going on now. If you are just. This is so much information and you don't even know where to begin. Send me a direct message, go jump in on any of the groups or, email me all of my contact info is there and just, let's just have a conversation and I can give you some direction on how to proceed from there.

So in the meantime, friends, remember to inhale confidence, exhale doubt. If you're a singer, keep calm, sing a song, and I'll see you all next time.