A confident posture encourages a confident voice, and vice versa. They work together to present the best possible version of yourself to others.
Hunched shoulders, crossed arms and a downward gaze are easy giveaways. Confident people stand up straight, square their shoulders, look you in the eye, spread their arms. You can work on projecting confidence by using the exercises in the course to improve your posture, until standing tall feels natural.
So let’s start at the top – with the head …
A human head weighs about 5 kilos (11 lb) – equivalent to five bags of sugar. Every time your head tips off balance the muscles in your neck and shoulders have to work hard to support that weight.
Do you tend to get stiffness in your neck and shoulders? Watch yourself in a mirror(s) or (even better) ask a friend to tell you whether you have developed habits that send your head off balance. For example:
Tilting your head back and chin up when opening your mouth to use your voice squashes the back of your neck and tightens your throat, preventing the easy flow of air. The head tilt can easily become permanent – harming not only your voice but your general health.
Pushing your chin forwards when speaking (or singing) also creates tension in the throat.
Remedy: Both these faults can be remedied by simply allowing your lower jaw to drop when opening your mouth to speak (or sing). Your head then stays still and balanced on your neck.
Craning your neck/slumping forward is something almost everyone does when absorbed in working at a desk, or viewing a hand-held tablet or phone screen – and we all spend increasing amounts of time looking at one sort of screen or another.
Remedy: First check whether your desk chair is suitable, and whether you need glasses or different glasses. Then the trick is to keep checking your position. Strategically placed Post-it notes can help. Once you notice you’re craning or slumping, imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling you back up to the vertical.
Nodding your head is a common habit when speaking, to emphasise points, or indicate agreement and general involvement in a conversation. Put the palm of your hand on the back of your neck while doing it to realise how much you’re using the muscles there – that’s a lot of unnecessary strain over a day.
Remedy: Take a tip from the many non-nodding TV personalities who convey their personality in less stressful ways. Like them, replace head movements with animated facial expressions and some hand movements.
Here are two effective ways to establish a comfortably correct head position.
To find not only the correct position for your head, but also your natural upright standing position:
If it feels decidedly uncomfortable – or at worst you can’t even get into the position – your posture definitely needs help. Simply standing for a couple of minutes several times a day in your best attempt at the position will produce results in a surprisingly short time, as your body starts to recognise ‘natural’ again.
You may even consider Alexander Technique lessons. Alexander and White developed their Techniques around the same time: Alexander because as a young actor he suffered hoarseness and breathing difficulties when on stage, White after losing his voice through poor vocal teaching. Alexander defined his Technique as ‘a system designed to promote well-being by re-training one’s awareness and habits of posture to ensure minimum effort and strain’.
With a few word changes this could be a definition of White’s Technique and Better Voice: ‘a system designed to promote healthy voice use by re-training one’s awareness and habits of vocalising to ensure minimum effort and strain’.
It’s not known whether the two men ever met while they were both living in London, but they would certainly have agreed that good voice production requires keeping the body relaxed and the head well balanced.
A confident posture encourages a confident voice, and vice versa. They work together to present the best possible version of yourself to others.
Hunched shoulders, crossed arms and a downward gaze are easy giveaways. Confident people stand up straight, square their shoulders, look you in the eye, spread their arms. You can work on projecting confidence by using the exercises in the course to improve your posture, until standing tall feels natural.
So let’s start at the top – with the head …
A human head weighs about 5 kilos (11 lb) – equivalent to five bags of sugar. Every time your head tips off balance the muscles in your neck and shoulders have to work hard to support that weight.
Do you tend to get stiffness in your neck and shoulders? Watch yourself in a mirror(s) or (even better) ask a friend to tell you whether you have developed habits that send your head off balance. For example:
Tilting your head back and chin up when opening your mouth to use your voice squashes the back of your neck and tightens your throat, preventing the easy flow of air. The head tilt can easily become permanent – harming not only your voice but your general health.
Pushing your chin forwards when speaking (or singing) also creates tension in the throat.
Remedy: Both these faults can be remedied by simply allowing your lower jaw to drop when opening your mouth to speak (or sing). Your head then stays still and balanced on your neck.
Craning your neck/slumping forward is something almost everyone does when absorbed in working at a desk, or viewing a hand-held tablet or phone screen – and we all spend increasing amounts of time looking at one sort of screen or another.
Remedy: First check whether your desk chair is suitable, and whether you need glasses or different glasses. Then the trick is to keep checking your position. Strategically placed Post-it notes can help. Once you notice you’re craning or slumping, imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling you back up to the vertical.
Nodding your head is a common habit when speaking, to emphasise points, or indicate agreement and general involvement in a conversation. Put the palm of your hand on the back of your neck while doing it to realise how much you’re using the muscles there – that’s a lot of unnecessary strain over a day.
Remedy: Take a tip from the many non-nodding TV personalities who convey their personality in less stressful ways. Like them, replace head movements with animated facial expressions and some hand movements.
Here are two effective ways to establish a comfortably correct head position.
To find not only the correct position for your head, but also your natural upright standing position:
If it feels decidedly uncomfortable – or at worst you can’t even get into the position – your posture definitely needs help. Simply standing for a couple of minutes several times a day in your best attempt at the position will produce results in a surprisingly short time, as your body starts to recognise ‘natural’ again.
You may even consider Alexander Technique lessons. Alexander and White developed their Techniques around the same time: Alexander because as a young actor he suffered hoarseness and breathing difficulties when on stage, White after losing his voice through poor vocal teaching. Alexander defined his Technique as ‘a system designed to promote well-being by re-training one’s awareness and habits of posture to ensure minimum effort and strain’.
With a few word changes this could be a definition of White’s Technique and Better Voice: ‘a system designed to promote healthy voice use by re-training one’s awareness and habits of vocalising to ensure minimum effort and strain’.
It’s not known whether the two men ever met while they were both living in London, but they would certainly have agreed that good voice production requires keeping the body relaxed and the head well balanced.
