Astounding Language

Whether it’s the rich, resonant tones of Richard Burton, the breathiness of Marilyn Monroe or the nasality of Fran Drescher, the sound of the voice conjures up an imagean impressionand can influence perception.

“You should think

of the sound of your

voice as inhaling the

words and letting them

reflect in the space

behind you. Vowels

shape the voice.

You inhale the

sounds rather than

projecting them.”

Len Cariou

Speakers know how to use the voice for effect but don’t always use the voice effectively. This can cause a variety of illnesses which can prevent speakers from doing what they do bestspeak.

One of the bigger problems for professional speakers is laryngopharyngeal reflux, an inflammation near the back part of the larynx due to acid rising to that point. Thirty-five million people in the United States have acid reflux.

“This inflammatory condition causes the vocal folds to function less efficiently leading to vocal fatigue and poor projection,” states Dr. Thomas Murry, clinical director, professor of speech pathology in otolaryngology at the Voice and Swallowing Center of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Columbia University. Reflux is most common among speakers because so many speakers are on the go, stressed and may have poor diets. Being aware of the symptoms of reflux can help speakers take preventative steps to take care of the problem.

The big five symptoms are:

Vocal fatigue,

Lack of projection,

Hoarseness as the day wears on,

Throat clearing,

Increased phlegm in the throat

Noticing that you have some of the above symptoms is one step you can take to begin to alleviate the problem.

Preserving the Voice

To preserve the voice, don’t talk over noise or constantly clear your throat. Instead, Murry recommends the silent cough technique.

The silent cough technique is a way to clear the throat without violently banging the vocal folds together. The silent cough is done by breathing in air and blowing the air out fast through your throat and mouth without making a sound. Immediately after the silent cough, you should tuck your chin down toward your chest and make a strong swallow. The silent cough often clears mucous that clings to the vocal folds or near them. The silent cough is an important element of vocal hygiene and helps to prevent unnecessary trauma to the vocal folds. It is especially important to use the silent cough after surgery to the vocal folds.

If the symptoms of reflux continue, go to the doctor before the problem becomes severe.

Another common physical voice problem is vocal paresis, a weakness in one or both vocal muscles manifesting in breathiness or fatigue. Both folds must come together symmetrically to produce a clear, resonant voice. Vocal paresis can be caused by a flu or viral infection. When the nerve is inflamed, the condition can last for six months to a year, causing the speaker to change habits to adjust to the inflammation. A monotone may be an indicator of a minor defect or partial paralysis. Also, speakers who have difficulty projecting could have some vocal fold asymmetry. Tape yourself and listen to how you sound. Also, be aware if you find people asking you to talk louder. This may be an indication that you are suffering from vocal paresis.

Breathiness and Hoarseness

If you are part of a speakers circle, have one meeting dedicated to voice quality. Often what you think is normal may actually be an indication that something needs to be checked out. If you have women in the group, note if they speak in a breathy manner.

Women are more inclined to get polyps or nodules, which are growths that prevent complete closure of the vocal folds and create breathiness. “In females, the back part of the vocal folds never completely closes due to the way they are formed. So the female voice is always going to be a little bit more breathy than the male’s because of anatomy,” states Murry.

If you are suffering from breathiness, take action and get checked out. It is always better to be safe than sorry. The definition of the term “frustrated and feeling sorry for yourself is to wake up to find that you’re hoarse when you have a big speaking engagement.

When hoarseness is the problem, first determine that there is no hemorrhage. Then start a process of hydration and steam. Speakers should travel with a facial steamer. When staying in a dry hotel room, opera singers use them every hour for five minutes. Alternatively, you can make boiling water in your coffee pot, pour it into the ice bucket, and throw a towel over your head to reap the benefits of steam.

To avoid becoming hoarse, avoid alcohol, chocolate and caffeine before a speech. They will dehydrate the mucous membranes, causing hoarseness. Finally, after an all-day motivational program, get plenty of rest and drink lots of water. Before you climb into bed, toss out those mint chocolates on your pillow; they are a double whammy because the mint relaxes the lower esophagus and allows acid to come up.

Keeping the Voice Healthy

To keep the voice healthy, Renee Grant Williams, author of Voice Power (AMA-COM), recommends drinking eight glasses of water a day, avoiding dairy products and eating a balance of protein and carbohydrates. She also recommends practicing “safe speaking” by using disposable hand sanitizers to clean off telephone mouthpieces.

Your voice is a precision instrument that needs to be assessed regularly. If there is a change in your voice for two consecutive weeks or you experience excessive coughing, see an otolaryn-gologist who specializes in throats. When surgery won’t solve the problem and you have a weakness in the cords, or there is a pathology, you need a speech pathologist.

“Nobody should see a speech pathologist unless they’ve had a good strobo-scopic examination,” warns Murry. A video chip flexible stroboscope is a new technology used to examine the vocal folds. It takes pictures and slows down the motion of the vocal folds for better viewing and diagnosis. If the anatomy is healthy and you need to learn how to use your voice properly, see a voice coach.

To prepare for your presentation, you use your intellectual muscles. To maintain your physical health, you exercise your body’s muscles. To prepare to speak, you need to prepare your voice. “The most important thing to know,” cites Murry, “is that just like the legs and arms of a football player, the vocal folds are muscles that can get weak, injured and tired.”

Jeanette Lovetri, one of the world’s top specialists in training professional singers and founder of the Voice Workshop and Somatic Voicework, believes, “The more vocal fitness, the more the voice stands up to stress.”

The goal of working with a voice trainer is to get the instrument to have more efficient responses. Just as runners have physical trainers, speakers need voice coaches.

Murry recommends practicing the three Ps: Posture, Placement and Pitch.

Posture: Hips over the legs, shoulders down, jaw relaxed, tongue forward.

Placement: Your voice is coming out of the bell of your head and not from a little tube in the throat. Imagine the sound coming out of the end of a French horn and not out of the tubes of the horn.

Pitch: Experiment with different pitches to see which one brings out the best “ring” or resonance once you have the proper posture and placement.

Once you know where your speaking voice is, you can calibrate your voice with these five-minute warm-up exercises:

Breathing down low in the chest
Humming to match to the best quality possible
Lip trills
Tongue trills
Syllable drills (puh tuh kuh/ buh duhguh) to warm up tongue/jaw motion

For training the speaking voice, Lovetri recommends singing. “Professional singing is two to five times more demanding than professional speaking. It’s a very effective tool to shorten the amount of time it takes to develop the voice. Be sure that the instructor is working from a “physiologic place and not just from a musical place,” she cautions.

Lovetri shares, “The key to vocal fitness is good breathing and relaxed but dynamic use of body parts. Most people don’t breathe adequately. To project your voice, torque up your breath.”

Twila Thompson, director of The Actors Institute in New York, concurs. “The voice is created in the breathing, not in your throat.” She suggests that speakers, “Practice breathing into the belly, pushing it out like a balloon, holding it for five to 10 seconds, then letting air go out with a sound for five to 10 seconds.”

Another method she recommends for maximizing the voice on stage is “connecting with the audience and having an intention to reach them with every word you say.” Thompson advises, “What is your intention in giving the talk? Should they think differently, challenge something? Having that intention is more than 50 percent of the issue.”

Len Cariou, actor, singer and Broadway star of Sweeny Todd, shares how he maximizes his voice by exercising the lower extremities. He says, “By contracting the legs and buttocks, it focuses the tension in the lower body and frees the speaker to sustain the voice and speak freely.” Cariou says preparing the voice is also about articulation. “You should think of the sound of your voice as inhaling the words and letting them reflect in the space behind you. Vowels shape the voice. You inhale the sounds rather than projecting them. Good diction allows one to speak at any level of volume and be understood.”

RESOURCES:

www.voiceandswallowing.com

www.thevoiceworkshop.com

www.vasta.org

www.greatvoice.com

www.voicebank.net

www.tairesources.com

You don’t have to sound like James Earl Jones to have vocal impact. What is important, according to Susan Berkley, the famous voice of “Thank you for using AT&T” and author of Speak to Influence, is vocal transparency. “The voiceover artists who make millions of dollars pitching products on television and radio do not necessarily do so because of the quality of their voice, but because they know how to take the voice they have to enhance the message of the copy writer. I call this quality ‘vocal transparency.’” She explains, “To have vocal transparency, you must first have the best possible instrument you can, so there are no ’sticking points’ when people listen. Then, take the focus off yourself and place it squarely on the most important part of all: your message and your affectionate contact with the audience.”

Making a difference in the lives of your audience is done with your instrumentyour voice. With proper breathing, voice training and vocal hygiene, your voice will be strong, healthy and you’ll master true vocal power.

Diane DiResta is a New York State licensed and certified speech pathologist, speaker, coach and author of Knockout Presentations. Her company, DiResta Communications, Inc., works with organizations that want to communicate with greater impact in the marketplace and with individuals who want to communicate more clearly. Contact: http://www.diresta.com

A certain “friend” sits over my shoulder when I write. Now, she sits there figuratively, not literally, but she always says, “Dig deeper. Let me see and feel the emotion.” She reads some more before asking, “Where’s the emotion? Don’t skim the surface. Let me feel what your character felt.”

“But it hurts to feel the emotion enough to share it,” I complain.

“Well (actually she used a stronger word, but I don’t), do you really want to be a writer? Then write so the reader feels.” She leans back and folds her arms, daring me to be a writer.

Yes, Jessie, I think I’ve learned that lesson well by now. However, the stuff I read doesn’t show the emotion often. The writer doesn’t really do more than scratch the surface of the emotion or emotions needed. I find myself repeating your mantra, “Where’s the emotion?”

“The sunset was beautiful.” Huh? What does that mean? What does beautiful mean? Where is the emotion the writer wants to share by using the word beautiful?

“The golden rays of the sun melted into shades of rose with tinges of orange. The glory sent tingles up my spine.” Do those words give more depth? Can you, the reader, better understand what beautiful means?

“She was sad.” Sad? I can be sad when I break my favorite vase, but what I feel as I gaze at the pictures of my missing grandchildren is a sorrow so overwhelming that I feel as if a hole is gaping in my chest. The pain is so intense that I actually grab my chest and gasp with the sharp agony.

Showing the emotion is difficult because a writer must feel the emotion first. When I write of the loss of my youngest child, I have to relive that experience. When I write about facing the fact that my husband may not be with me much longer, I have to feel and then put into the words the horror I am facing. However, through my experiences, I can give the emotions of my fictional characters life.

Ah, but you say you’ve never experienced anything like death or extreme pain. When a writer hasn’t personally experienced the emotions she is trying to desribe, then she must use imagination.

So many times I stood in front of high school students explaining how they could take events in their lives and expand those experiences to become descriptions in their writings. If they needed to write about sorrow, I would ask them to think about the saddest thing that ever happened to them and then remember how they felt, really go back and relive that feeling. Then they were to expand and exaggerate that emotion, put it into words. If someone had never suffered the death of a loved one or even a pet, I’d ask if they had a friendship break up or a friend move away. If so, use that and imagine that it was a worse loss.

I was able to do that when writing about fictional characters, but when it came to writing the emotions I lived, I failed. That’s when my shoulder-sitter entered the picture, poking and prodding, making me dig and feel and write. “Give me the details of what you felt, what controlled you at the time.” So I dug deep into my memories and put them out for others to experience with me.

So where’s the emotion in your writing? You may experience discomfort and even pain as you put those in-depth feelings into words for others to read, but the result is good writing.

Vivian Gilbert Zabel taught English, composition, and creative writing for twenty-five years, honing her skills as she studied and taught. She is a author on Writers (http://www.Writing.Com/), and her portfolio is http://www.Writing.Com/authors/vzabel. Her books, Hidden Lies and Other Stories and Walking the Earth, can be found through Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

If you dream of starting your own business, there may be just one, small
thing standing in your way - lack of funds! One way around this, is to
enlist the support of a “sleeping partner” - no, not that sort of sleeping
partner! But someone who will provide the financial backing for you to set
up your business (and allow you to keep control).

There are many places that provide this start up help, such as banks and
joint venture companies, but you can approach anyone you think might be
willing to back you, if you have a business proposal prepared.

Here’s a brief outline of what you need to include in your proposal.

Executive Summary
Provide an outline of your vision for the business
Briefly describe what already exists in this field
The niche - as you see it and the benefits your business will bring
Type of business proposed - benefits you will bring to the
market niche
Overall financial goals - anticipated sales and profits
Funds required to start up business

Business Profile
You must provide details of the following:
Business name
Principals
Description of business - what it aims to do and its target
market
Vision - ultimate goals
Mission - value, service you’ll offer
The competitive advantage you have - eg flexibility, able to draw
on wide base of talents, connections in the industry etc

SWOT analysis
This is where you analyse your proposed business, yourself and the
competition - list examples under each of the following:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Be honest with these - but only put in threats and weaknesses that you know
you can meet and overcome successfully.

Objectives
Detail what your short and long-term objectives are for the business:
at the end of the first 12 months of operation
after 12 months

Product and Market Analysis
This requires some exacting research, so you can provide plenty of detail.
Product / Service - description of what you’re offering
Features
Benefits
Price structure
Industry description and outlook
Market demand - percentage of market you think you can
capture; competition share you think you can take etc

Operating Plan
Outline your resource requirements - what you need in order to
operate and what this will cost.
List the items and specify prices.
Provide the name of suppliers.
Use tables, graphs etc to support your claims.

Management Plan
Give specific details of manning levels:
numbers of staff required
any training needed
experience of managers and their skills

Marketing Plan
Divide this into:
Internal - how you’ll win repeat customers and referrals
External - how you’ll get new customers
Impact - how you’ll target specific groups
Detail how you’ll go about targeting and selling to each group e.g.
Service levels
Vouchers
Hand-outs
Music
Decor
Entertainment
Special add-ons
Etc
Publicity and direct approaches you’ll make (specify targets e.g. music
schools etc)
Promotion (e.g. freebies, discounts, buy one get one free, every 6th
something free, charity performances, openings etc).
The actual product / service you’re selling - explain exactly what it is or
what it involves.

Financial Plan
Give details of:
Projected sales
Projected costs
Projected profits
Give specific details e.g. break down into gross profits, overheads, net
profits etc.

Action Plan
Again, you must give details, consider using a table to show:
Activities to be carried out
When these will be done
Who will do each

Give a chronological sequence of action to show how you plan to start and
develop the business.

Provide plenty of graphs (use different styles), tables, facts and
figures.

Get information from Bureau of Statistics on demography,
socio-economic groups, age etc.

Have an appendix and include any extra details (e.g. if you’re
planning to start a business which has a sound recording studio, include
newspaper cuttings about bands bemoaning the fact that they can’t get their
CDs cut etc).

If all this sounds a little daunting, keep reminding yourself of the
rewards for all this hard work - you’ll be able to start your business much
sooner than if you had to work for a boss and save the necessary capital, or
if you had to wait until you win the lottery!

About the Author

Jennifer Stewart has had her own web-based business at
http://www.write101.com since 1998 and specialises in editing and
copywriting for business people who would rather spend their time running
their businesses than chewing on the end of a pen. For details of how you
can start your own business, click here:
mailto:sky101@GetResponse.com?subject=Business

All your publishing options are as follows:

–Conventional publishing

–Vanity or subsidy publishing

–Print-on-demand publishing

–Self-publish yourself

–Get help with self-publishing

Let’s compare the publishing options.

How to get in the publishing process and how long will it take to see your book printed?

Conventional publishing option

It is a very long and difficult process to get a publisher even if it is at all possible for a new author. First you need to get a literary agent who is willing to introduce / represent your manuscript to a publisher. The rejection rate is about 95% at each stage… It can take many months or even years to find an agent and then a publisher… If and when your manuscript is accepted by a conventional publisher, it usually takes up to two years to see your book in print.

Subsidy or vanity publishing option

It is extremely easy and fast to get a subsidy publisher. They will even solicit your manuscript through advertising or direct mail. They accept without question any and all manuscripts for publishing and print your book in a matter of months.

Print-on-demand publishing option

This is actually the same type as a subsidy publisher - soliciting your business, accepting anything and being ready to print your book in no time. The only difference is that they print one book at a time which costs you less up-front, but not in the long run.

Self-publish yourself

Starting your own publishing company is involved, not only in business terms but also in learning the art and science of publishing. After that you can move pretty fast - you manage the whole process yourself, interviewing and hiring all the expertise needed, such as book designers, printers, promoters, etc. And it’s not cheap.

Get help with self-publishing

If you don’t have time, money and/or inclination for running a publishing business, but still want to self-publish your book, you can find help in an advisory / promotional service for self-publishers that will lead you through the process. You still self-publish, but save time, money and effort.

How much will it cost you to publish your book?

Conventional publishing option

This doesn’t cost you anything, the publisher will pay all book production expenses. By saying this we aren’t considering the ultimate costs of losing most of your legal rights to your work, or for that matter your time spent on seeking representation, mailing copies of your manuscript to numerous agents, or the reading / copying fees that agents frequently charge new authors.

Subsidy or vanity publishing option

You will pay everything up-front, that’s the way subsidy publishers make their money - from authors, not from selling books to the public. Most often it will be $10,000 to $20,000, sometimes more depending on the size of your book. You get about 200 copies of your book for that price and a promise of royalties if any book selling from the publisher happens in the future. Each book costs you about $50 to $100 up to this point, very likely precluding any profitability at all in the venture.

Print-on-demand publishing option

Same thing - they make their money from you, the author, selling you your own books one at a time, printing-on-demand. The difference is that it costs less up-front, sometimes even nothing depending on company policies. Don’t expect them to be selling to public on your behalf either - they only sell to you. Each book will usually cost you about $10 to $20 which often makes it impossible to sell your books through retailers as you can’t compete with other books’ prices.

Self-publish yourself

We won’t consider here the costs of starting a business and educating yourself on publishing through courses, books, seminars, etc.; these differ a lot for various people in different situations. However, after all that is accomplished, you can have 500 to 1,000 copies of your book printed for about $3 to $5 per book which makes it competitive in price with books of any big publisher. We are speaking here about an average retail paperback book cost.

Get help with self-publishing

The book price will be more or less same as above - you pay for services, but save on running a business.

How do you market / promote / sell your books?

Conventional publishing option

The publisher will take care that your book is delivered to distributors / wholesalers / retailers and that’s probably it. The publishers don’t spend money on promoting books of new authors as a rule. Since consumers don’t know about your book, they don’t buy it. The retail shelf space is scarce and expensive, your book will go off the shelves in several months and that’s the commonly end of the story… You can change this into a success story of your book if you do the promotion yourself, however.

Subsidy or vanity publishing option

As already said, the publisher had made their money up-front. There may be a clause in your contract saying that the publisher will mail some number of your books to reviewers for publicity, but as Dan Poynter says: “The name of a vanity publisher on a spine of the book is a kiss of death” - your book will never be reviewed. That’s because reviewers review books that will be in book trade distribution channels where subsidy presses never get.

Print-on-demand publishing option

Same thing - the publisher (really hardly more than a printer) won’t do anything to market / promote / sell your book; it’s all up to you to create a demand for your book. The print-on-demand publishing seems inexpensive at the first sight, but don’t forget that it’s only at the beginning of the process - you still need to do marketing and promotion yourself or hire help for this. And one more important thing in print-on-demand publishing - watch the list price of your future book and at the same time what you pay per book. If your book is more expensive than other books “from the same shelf”, consumers will never buy your book. And keep in mind that if you want to sell retail, you must be able to give distributors / wholesalers / retailers their 40% to 60% share of the list price. Otherwise you can only sell to consumers directly.

Self-publish yourself

You are in the driver’s seat and do everything yourself.

Get help with self-publishing

Hire help to do marketing and promotion for you.

Who keeps the rights for your work?

Conventional publisher always keeps all the rights. You don’t have any influence on editing, changing the title, illustrations, cover art, publishing, marketing, etc. And you never get your rights back after you signed a contract.

Subsidy or vanity publisher and Print-on-demand publisher sometimes assigns right to themselves, sometimes only temporary, sometimes to you; the latter of course is much better. Watch the contract and negotiate if you are set on this course.

Self-publish yourself and Get help with self-publishing: keep all your rights. You are free to publish, re-publish, sell your rights in the future to TV and movie producers, etc.

Olga Kellen
AuthorsOmniscient Publishers

Advisory/promotional service for self-publishers
http://www.authors-sell-book.com/

A destination for independent authors

And those that love to read them