Throat Cancer...

Throat cancer is not caused by vocal abuse, however it can be caused by smoking!
Though throat cancer is not caused by vocal abuse, it is still a form of cancer and must be treated immediately, or risk death!


Some people get vocal cord tumours and these can either be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumours can stay with you for life but can be surgically removed. Malignant tumours must be immediately treated before the cancer spreads.

It is very easy to damage the vocal cords. Many famous singers have ruined their careers by a combination of forceful singing, yelling, screaming, smoking, drinking alcohol, or drugs.

Examples of singers who have damaged their voices are Adele, Julie Andrews, Whitney Houston, and the list goes on!

Adele = Hemorrhage

Whitney = Drugs and vocal exhaustion

Julie Andrews = vocal exhaustion and damaging throat surgery

Another popular way to damage the voice is by overusing it. People who talk and sing excessively often cause damage to their vocal cords, without even realising it.

There are several different types of damage that happens when a person abuses their vocals. These are nodules, polyps, laryngitis and hemorrhage (burst blood vessel - Adele).

 

Nodules



Vocal cord nodules are small, hard, callus-like growths caused by vocal abuse. They occur in pairs, with one nodule on each vocal cord at the site of greatest irritation. They sometimes are called singer's, screamer's or teacher's nodules. = http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10976.html

Polyp

Vocal cord polyps are small, soft growths that usually appear alone on a vocal cord. They are caused most often by vocal abuse or long-term exposure to irritants, such as chemical fumes or cigarette smoke. = http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10976.html



Hemorrhage



A burst blood vessel in the vocal folds.

Felix's Top Tips!

There are many ways to improve the voice when reading monologues or when giving a speech.

When reading or speaking, it is important to enunciate clearly and confidently.

Many people fail to enunciate successfully, either because they are uncomfortable or because they haven’t practised properly.

One way of helping enunciation is to try tongue twisters. Certain phrases when spoken aloud utilise the entire mouth, often seeming ridiculous, but overall highly effective at improving the clarity of speech.

Tongue twisters such as the following are examples of the sentences I used to help me articulate my monologues.

Can I cook a proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot?

Octopi occupy a porcupine's mind.

Some shun sunshine. Do you shun sunshine?

Another thing to focus on is the amount of syllables in words, especially when reading from classical pieces such as Shakespeare, where the flow of the piece can be undermined by skipping syllables etc.

Remember to count out the syllables when practising!

14 syllables -  

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Su-per-cal-i-frag-il-ist-ic-ex-pi-a-li-do-cious

Finally, the last thing to remember is to speak clearly! Open your mouth and let the voice do what is does best, those who mumble never make great public speakers. Try to avoid merging words together in nervousness or laziness because it can completely change the sentence and how people interpret it.

Most common enunciation failure! :

•       Are you alright?

•       Y’orite?

•       You’re right!