Things That Go Bump In The Voice - the actors' cut Mel Mehta

Louise, Actor and Yoga Teacher, talks about when her voice suddenly became an issue for her during performing.  She carried on performing but knew it wasn't right.  She talks about how she was treating her voice as a "diva" and how she brought in some of her mindset thinking from her Yoga teaching and Mentor to view her thoughts.  She realised how her self-talk was not helping and illustrates how she turned this around.  "You are not your thoughts" and she talks about noticing without judging and her realisation that she was not broken.   Her insights and journey are fascinating and I hope you will something that resonates with you.  Thank you for listening.

Matt is an Actor, Writer and Voice Over Artist. He came back to Acting following a career in Law and a health issue. He was doing well, working in Theatre, Corporate work, Commercials etc. Then he got a sore throat.......hear Matt's story. Semi-spoiler alert - his voice is not where it was and may never be back to it's best. Life has taken Matt on many twists and turns and he's been through some tough times. Matt has some good advice on dealing with the hard days and he provides inspiration to many.

Prior to starting at the Drama School where we met, Tara had been asked at another audition "do you have a cold or do you smoke?". We followed up this thought, and the fact that she was aware of her husky voice and reduced vocal stamina in social situations with a visit to see an Ear Nose and Throat Consultant in a Voice Clinic. In this episode she relates what happened after her diagnosis, through surgery and recovery journey and explains where she is at now vocally and shares her thoughts and advice. The only person, so far, I've met who had a "surgery buddy"!

Prior to drama training in the UK, Tessa had received favourable comments about her voice quality. During her time in training, she chose to follow up on a further Ear Nose and Throat diagnosis to discover more about her voice quality. In this episode she relates what happened, describes her diagnosis and her subsequent thoughts and actions. She found that she is likely to have always had issues at the level of her vocal folds and has learnt now the cause of the sound of her voice and is continuing to work to get the best out of it. It's a fascinating journey!

Welcome to Pete who was in 3rd year of Drama School training when he experienced a vocal problem. He went on to have surgery. Hear what happened, how he dealt with that and his reflections on his relationship with his voice.

Episode 2 - My friend talks about finding out about the development of their vocal fold nodules and describes their journey through diagnosis and rehabilitation whilst attending their first year at Drama School. They go on to talk about how they discuss this in the Acting Profession and how they continue to care for their voice.

Some mild strong language.