For this World Voice Day Special edition of our This Is A Voice podcast we're delving into the Vagus Nerve and health diagnostics with one of the most influential GPs in the UK (Pulse Magazine), Dr Ayan Panja. Dr Panja is a GP (family doctor), podcaster, presenter on BBC World News and the bestselling author of "The Health Fix" Voice experts Dr Gillyanne Kayes & Jeremy Fisher share thoughts, stories and advice with Dr Ayan and bust some of the myths about singing, breathing and the vagus...

Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher on misunderstandings, misconceptions and personal insights about breathing and breath management for singing. Untrue statements, pressed phonation, relentless twang, breathy versus leaky tone, everything is up for discussion. Plus five areas where we can control breathing, and details on using two contrasting airstreams at the same time (introducing the "Granny Kiss"... With research from Ian Howell and Heidi Moss Erickson on back pressure and brain...

Celebrating 90 episodes of our This Is A Voice Podcast! Dr Gillyanne Kayes & Jeremy Fisher share how they deal with a bad review - and this one's just plain rude. And they celebrate 20 years of their groundbreaking voice teacher Accreditation Programme. Welcome to This Is A Voice Season 9 Episode 1, the podcast where we get vocal about voice. 00:00:00 – Stodgy & Humble – the dynamic duo of voice training 00:01:20 – Unpacking a Cringe-worthy Review 00:04:49 – Dealing with Criticism - a...

We're rounding off the year with our annual Best Of selection. We broadcast 20 episodes in 2023, so we divided them into four groups of five and got our listeners (and watchers on YouTube) to vote for their favourite episode in each group. Then we chose the "WildCard" fifth episode ourselves. We're introducing excerpts from each of the top five episodes as voted for by you. If you don't want to know which episodes we chose, look away now... Top episode from January-March - Season 7 Episode...

In This Is A Voice podcast S8 Ep8 Lisa Perks returns to talk about creating a safe space in the vocal studio for singers to discover their voice and individuality. Lisa shares with Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher insights and techniques to nurture each singer on their vocal and emotional journey 00:00 No room for shame 01:32 Discussing the concept of good disagreement 03:39 The power of asking 'Why?' 04:50 Patient empowerment in medical contexts 07:32 Research on the impact of shame on...

We're about to record our "Best of 2023" episode and YOU can help us choose. This mini-bonus episode of our This Is A Voice podcast contains four polls to help you choose your favourite episodes of 2023. There are 20 episodes to choose from and we've divided them into four groups of 5. POLL 1, January-April episodes https://forms.gle/7TsTsVcdVJpj5KZZ9 POLL 2, April-June episodes https://forms.gle/TKmgRchZcynFURqm6 POLL 3, June-October episodes https://forms.gle/A6oxVtdqesK4YdDG8 ...

In This Is A Voice podcast S8 Ep7 we're diving into the sensitive topic of shame in the singing world. In this wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Gillyanne Kayes, Jeremy Fisher and special guest Lisa Perks, we explore how shame can shape and limit a singer's journey, regardless of their background.  Whether you're an amateur vocational singer or a seasoned professional performer, you need to know about this crucial hidden aspect of vocal artistry.  00:00 Shame used as a weapon 01:41 Lisa's...

Join us in an insightful and empowering episode with our Associate Trainer, singing teacher and life coach Anne Leatherland.  In Season 8 Episode 6 Anne returns to share her unique approach to helping women find their voice, both literally and metaphorically, in professional settings.  We discuss the challenges women face regarding voice perception in the workplace and explore strategies for communicating with confidence and impact. Voice is a key component of identity, and we discuss ways...

In This Is A Voice podcast S8 Ep5 we dive into the fascinating world of values and beliefs with our special guest, Anne Leatherland of Vocal Intuition. We discuss how understanding your values can transform your teaching and coaching, help you to align with your true self and move your career towards a life that’s more fulfilling and enjoyable. Anne Leatherland started her professional life as a chemistry teacher. As a recreational singer she had no qualifications and did not go to “music...

Today we're asking the question "What matters to you?" Do you already know, or do you need time to think about it? As singing teacher and vocal coach we can direct our careers to include doing what we love and what matters to us. In this episode we share the important things in our lives, what we MUST do for our own peace of mind. The parts of our individual careers that bring us joy. What brings you joy? Answers on a postcard... 0:00 Aiming your career 1:47 What matters to Jeremy - piano...

She's back! Social media expert and app lover Karen Michaels shares her favourite tools for your singing studio We explore finding your "voice" (your social media persona) and how to write your value statement in 1 hour.  Analysing who you love working with and shifting your business to embrace them.   How to coach a song even when you've not heard it before.  And Karen shares her three best apps for helping you in the singing studio. It's a cracking episode and we're rocking and...

Social media expert Karen Michaels joins us for a fascinating discussion on the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the world of singing, voice education and singing teacher marketing. Karen shares her wealth of knowledge on harnessing the power of apps and AI in your socials. We’re chatting about the importance of authenticity in your online presence, avoiding burnout on social media and curating your feeds to create a positive and inspiring online environment for...

We've been off the air for two months - so where were we? And where are we going? In this opening episode for Season 8, we reveal our future plans for singers, singing teachers, choral leaders and theatre MDs 00:00 Our 80th podcast episode! 01:05 Our Teacher Accreditation Programme 02:14 Our discoveries on the Discovery Calls 06:10 SIXTY contact hours 07:32 Changes to our online singing teacher courses 08:45 In-person appearances and masterclasses 12:33 Podcast guest and AI 15:36 The...

Part 2 of our deep conversation with jazz singer, composer & educator Louise Gibbs. Has Beyonce been teaching you this week? Moving from imitation to authenticity, finding your "groove" and dealing with bad self-talk. ***Warning! Some swearing, mostly from Gillyanne*** 0:00 Dealing with bad self-talk 1:37 Artistry - who is teaching you this week? 3:53 Study practice rehearse perform 7:11 Being in the moment 9:50 Dealing with self-editing singers 12:04 Why Louise is a singer not a...

Our special guest for this week's This Is A Voice #podcast is jazz singer, recording artist, composer, educator and past president of the British Voice Association Louise Gibbs.  It's a meeting of three practical minds in a deep & fascinating conversation about authenticity (for the singer and for the music), training authentic singers, exploring style envelopes and when to push their boundaries. 00:00 Being yourself to stand out 02:10 Why Gillyanne didn't like "I don't know how to love...

Wonder what we do in our private coaching sessions? It's a secret. We don't normally reveal what happens (or who we work with) but in this podcast episode we're sharing some of the techniques and "happenings" that make up a great mentoring session. Jeremy has a particular passion for mentoring other singers, singing teachers, Musical Directors, vocal coaches and choir leaders. He describes why his Career Mentoring sessions are becoming so popular. Where do you want to be in a year? A small...

You've probably seen our books, you've listened to the podcasts, but you may not know what we really do in our 1-1 lessons and masterclasses. We're Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher, and we own and run VocalProcess. We'll be sharing with you some examples of what we do in our 1-1 singing and coaching sessions, and why we do it. 0:00 Building new brain pathways 2:28 Talking about our singing lessons 3:54 Being client led & power imbalance 4:40 The extremes and Guru Gone Mad 8:15 The...

What's the most efficient way to practice? And how can you set up your singing students to practise successfully? Jeremy's been doing it for years but we had it confirmed by Kittie Verdolini Abbott at our latest conference - Jeremy talks Variable Practice! Gillyanne shares how she collected a multi-disciplinary team for her Round Table conversation at UEP in Turkey on voice problems, boundaries and vocal challenges. Things you need to tell a surgeon if you're having surgery of any kind. And...

Why DO we do professional development? We're already professionals! What IS comfort zone and when should we be in it or out of it? Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher chat about comfort zone, continuing professional development (CPD) and their most recent injection of new thoughts via voice surgeons and SLTs. Why they attended a phoniatricians' conference and what they learned about extreme voice (distortions), vocal tremor, transgender voice surgery and themselves. Part 1 of 2. 0:00...

A World Voice Day Special In part 2 of "Vocal Surgery and Beyond", Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher interview singer Kate Bassett on why she decided to go for vocal fold surgery. Kate talks through the decision and the second opinion, and the sentence that helped her decide (it involves rucksacks) How the surgery went and how long she was on "voice rest" (it might surprise you!). The voice therapy sequences she used and how Gillyanne built on them to move from speaking voice to singing...

A World Voice Day Special. Jeremy and Gillyanne interview Kate Bassett on her vocal surgery and recovery. This year's World Voice Day topic is Your Voice Matters. In this 2-Part podcast, singer Kate Bassett shares her story of acute vocal injury, therapy, vocal fold surgery and voice rehabilitation In Part 1 0:00 stigma and vocal injury 5:13 how the vocal injury happened 6:48 what happened next 9:10 the missing piece of information 11:22 needing more than just voice rest 12.43 going to the...

What does your CV or resumé actually say about you? Is it up to date? Does it reflect who you are, what you want to do and who you want to work with? Expert vocal coach & career consultant Jeremy Fisher shares his process for rewriting your CV to attract the clients and jobs you want. Together Gillyanne and Jeremy discuss the right questions to ask, and share several examples of different CVs for teachers and singers. If you want your career to take off, you need to lead with your...

Self-promotion can feel like a dirty word, but as a singing teacher, vocal coach, choir leader or vocal health worker positioned in the arts, how do you show up in the world? How important is a website today? What should you have on it? How "big" should it be? We've just updated and upgraded the https://vocalprocess.co.uk website (it's live today) and it's been a fascinating process. We reduced our mega-website (250+ pages) to about 20+ pages plus blogs, AND we've now (for the first time)...

Gillyanne & Jeremy answer more questions about classical vocal technique versus musical theatre vocal technique. Which is best, should you teach either or both, what do you teach students at different ages? Great questions submitted from our listeners too: How can I make "So In Love" stop sounding like Puccini? Do you teach a 16 year old classical AND musical theatre or choose one? With a new young MT student do you focus on legit or belting? Gillyanne talks about her PhD research into...