Be Kind With Your Voice

April 16, 2019 marks World Voice Day this year. Every year there’s a theme; the 2019 World Voice Day Theme  is “Be Kind With Your Voice” as developed by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery as developed by its Voice Committee.
 
What does it mean to be kind with your voice?
 
What comes out of our mouths can have a deep effect on those around us.
 
As singer’s we have a special gift to communicate and touch people deeply through the use of music and words. Sharing that gift is certainly being kind with your voice. Studies have suggested many health benefits to  listening to music:

1. Improves mood. Studies show that listening to music can benefit overall well-being, help regulate emotions, and create happiness and relaxation.
2. Lessens anxiety. In studies of people with cancer, listening to music combined with standard care reduced anxiety compared to those who received standard care alone.
3. Improves exercise. Studies suggest that music can enhance aerobic exercise, boost mental and physical stimulation, and increase overall performance.
4. Improves memory. Research has shown that the repetitive elements of rhythm and melody help our brains form patterns that enhance memory. In a study of stroke survivors, listening to music helped them experience more verbal memory, less confusion, and better focused attention.
5. Eases pain. In studies of patients recovering from surgery, those who listened to music before, during, or after surgery had less pain and more overall satisfaction compared with patients who did not listen to music as part of their care.
6. Provides comfort. Music therapy has also been used to help enhance communication, coping, and expression of feelings such as fear, loneliness, and anger in patients who have a serious illness, and who are in end-of-life care.
7. Improves cognition. Listening to music can also help people with Alzheimer’s recall seemingly lost memories and even help maintain some mental abilities.
8. Helps children with autism spectrum disorder. Studies of children with autism spectrum disorder who received music therapy showed improvement in social responses, communication skills, and attention skills.
9. Soothes premature babies. Live music and lullabies may impact vital signs, improve feeding behaviors and sucking patterns in premature infants, and may increase prolonged periods of quiet–alert states.

 
Now those are some awesome benefits that you can provide with your voice!

Of course we also have to consider the spoken word. That has a huge impact, too. There’s a great expression: You have two ears and one mouth and it’s best to use them in that proportion.

Too often we speak more than we listen. Learning to choose your words wisely is the first part of being kind WITH your voice. Then we also have to consider the tone we use, our inflections and speed of speech.

Studies have shown that people who speak in a monotone are perceived to not care. High-pitched voices can become shrill and be perceived as defensive. Speaking at a fast pace can seem aggressive. Other qualities of voice that may give people a negative impression of the speaker are vocal fry (the gravelly sound that drives singing teachers mad!), which makes the speaker seem lazy and upspeak, which makes the speaker sound immature or less confident in what they are saying.
 
So if you have something to say, make sure you are choosing kind words and delivering them in a tone of voice that will not be mistaken for anything but kindness.
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What are you doing to celebrate World Voice Day?
 
 
Resources:
 
https://www.entitymag.com/4-ways-voice-can-affect-peoples-perception/
http://world-voice-day.org/
https://www.gethealthystayhealthy.com/articles/10-health-benefits-of-music

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