This weekend, I will be attending the 2017 Voice Therapy Conference in Pittsburgh. I am attending for two reasons. First of all, I must get my Continuing Education credits to maintain my license to practice. Secondly, my absolute favorite part of speech pathology when I was in graduate school was in the area of voice. I had a fabulous professor who got me hooked on the capabilities of our tiny instrument, the larynx. I just loved to learn about the anatomy, diagnosing voice problems and helping patients learn to use their voices in better ways.
I still love to learn about our amazingly unique and complex larynx and I want to stay current with trends in techniques, so I am excited to attend! Here are a few amazing facts that I found fascinating….
I walked into LA Fitness the other day to do my daily exercise and noticed an Assessment Tool for members. Through a series of little tests, you could find out your Strength, Endurance and Stability for men and women based on your age. In other words, at my age I should be able to do 29 or more push-ups to achieve the “Excellent” status. (I’m happy to report, that I can do it!)
It made me think of some quick tests you can do to measure your own respiratory and laryngeal control. It is called the MPT (for Maximum Phonation Time) and it measures the efficiency of your respiratory system and your ability to maintain vocal cord closure. There are two tasks you can do to measure. You will need a stopwatch or a clock with a second hand.
Imagine the devastating effects of waking up on the day of your big presentation and finding that your voice sounds scratchy, hoarse and weak. Worse yet, it has disappeared completely! Nearly all of us rely on a well-functioning voice at work every day. If we were to lose our voice on any given day, the results could be disastrous.
How you stand, place your arms and feet and hold your head are indicators of how self-confident you are and whether or not you will be taken seriously. The first step in successful body language that conveys confidence is your standing position or posture. If you feel like it, stand up and get intoneutral position:
Place equal pressure on both feet (no shifting from leg-to-leg). Your feet are hip width apart. Your knees and thighs are relaxed. Your shoulders are back and down. Your hands are comfortably at your sides. Your chin is up and parallel with the floor.
bsolute favorite part of speech pathology when I was in graduate school was in the area of voice. I had a fabulous professor who got me hooked on the capabilities of our tiny instrument, the larynx. I just loved to learn about the anatomy, diagnosing voice problems and helping patients learn to use their voices in better ways.
Imagine the devastating effects of waking up on the day of your big presentation and finding that your voice sounds scratchy, hoarse and weak. Worse yet, it has disappeared completely! Nearly all of us rely on a well-functioning voice at work every day. If we were to lose our voice on any given day, the results could be disastrous.