Voice Care for Coaches by http://www.abundancecenter.com

By Catherine Franz

Coaches rely heavily on their voice to service clients.

If you also give teleclasses or workshops, voice

maintenance needs to be one of their top self-care

priorities. This information also applies to singers,

speakers, or sales professionals.

During flu and cold season, vocal cords become highly

sensitized and need as much care as a valuable

instrument. Think of your voice, and we should, as an

expensive, rare violin. If you were going to play the

violin the next day -- same relation as having a

speaking engagement or a full day of coaching -- you

wouldn't expose that violin to a night in a smoke

filled room, lay cigars or pour alcohol all over it and

expect it not to suffer from the abuse the next day.

Antibiotics don't help viral infections or laryngitis

-- a common result from a viral infection caused from a

cold or flu. Recently, I suffered got the flu and

suffered from a severe case of laryngitis. I had to

cancel a teleclass, lose a week of work, and almost a

paid speaking engagement. The more I self-treated

through media knowledge or recommendations, the worse

the laryngitis got.

It took over 20 days before I improved and then two

weeks later, it returned. After great frustration, I

finally visited my ear, nose, and throat specialist,

only to learn that everything I was trying was actually

contributing the extended suffering. Let me pass along

some of my learning so you don't need to go through

this. Like me, some of it will surprise you.

Food and Beverages

Warm or hot beverages work best. Cold beverages with

ice produces the voice center to spasm generating

coughing that results in laryngitis. Stick to drinking

room temperature water.

Black Currant Pastilles, which are glycerin-containing

lozenges for adults, keeps the throat moist. Pastilles

are perfect to take before, during, and after flying or

traveling from one temperature extreme to another, say

New York to Florida in winter. It is good to have

these on hand since they are difficult to find. Many

professional singers use Black Currant Pastilles 24

hours before their performance.

Avoid anything with mint or menthol.

Throat Coat® Tea, designed specifically for voice

professionals, is rated higher than Pastilles. The tea

contains licorice root, which is widely used to enhance

throat and upper respiratory tract health. Any

beverage that affects your stomachs acid level, like

caffeine, will also affect your vocal cords. Caffeine

is a mild diuretic and dries the throat and vocal

cords. Coffee, including decaf, due to its natural

oils causes acidic results that cause vocal damage.

This includes chocolate. If you suffer from acid

reflux disease, you need to take extra care of your

voice since it cause permanent damage. Sodas also

cause acid reflux and damages vocal cords.

With a cold or flu, we usually drink orange juice.

This acidic beverage actually lengthens laryngitis. So

does the amount of lemon you use in water. A tiny bit

of lemon in warm water with a small amount of honey is

a great elixir that actually smoothes the vocal cords.

Dairy increases throat mucus for some people. If after

you drink milk, you feel even a little mucus in your

throat, you probably have a very mild milk allergy.

This will affect your vocal health and can length

laryngitis. Nuts have the same allergy affect.

Common Causes of Voice Strain

It’s common knowledge that shouting, screaming, and

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BIO:

Catherine Franz, a eight-year Certified Professional
Coach, Graduate of Coach University, Mastery
University, editor of three ezines, columnist, author
of thousands of articles website:
http://www.abundancecenter.com
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

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