Your speaking voice is your singing voice—and because you spend far more time speaking than singing, it’s important to take care of it. In this episode of Vocal Tips in 10, I sit down with speech pathologist Maurice Goodwin to explore healthy speaking techniques that support vocal longevity.
From spotting the signs of strain to building everyday habits that reduce tension, Maurice shares practical strategies you can use right away. We cover:
✨ Want to go deeper? On Wednesday, September 22, Maurice will be teaching a full hour-long workshop, Healthy Speaking Technique for Vocal Longevity, exclusively inside the Vocal Pro Membership.
If you’re listening after the fact, you can still access this training—along with hours of other expert-led workshops—inside the Vocal Pro Vault.
00:00 Introduction to Vocal Health
01:58 Understanding Vocal Strain and Usage
03:49 Practical Tips for Healthy Speaking
06:34 Awareness and Body Relaxation for Vocal Longevity
09:17 Resources and Conclusion
🎧 Listen to the Episode
▶️ Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
🎁 Free Training – Using Movement to Sing Easier + Sound Better!
🎤 Try 2 Weeks of Vocal Pro Membership – Free
I am so happy to be joined by a guest today, a friend and a colleague that I have such respect for, Maurice Goodwin. Maurice is a speech pathologist, a singing voice specialist, and he is so kind to jump on today and he's going to be sharing with us some healthy speaking tips for vocal longevity because even though, you know, as singers we spend so much time thinking about our singing voice, we speak more than we do anything. So I'm thrilled to have you here today, Maurice, and welcome.
Maurice (00:27)
Thank you, thank you. I'm excited to be here. As a speech pathologist, I have had like the privilege of spending years now talking about how we keep our voices healthy as singers and performers. I have this big professional perspective as someone who worked in a major voice center with voice doctors, other speech pathologists and other medical professionals. And I'm also a professional voice user myself. I was a performer.
for many years professionally And I would consider myself a professional voice user as a teacher. figuring out how to keep my voice healthy is also relevant to me. ⁓ And I would agree that many singers don't necessarily consider their speaking voice as maybe effortful or ⁓ full of work. Some folks do.
Amber Cathey (01:00)
Absolutely.
Amen, preach it.
Maurice (01:20)
And those are the folks that sometimes meet with speech pathologists, but a lot of singers are just, they just also so happen to be human. And so they're out living their life. They're talking on the phone with friends and family. They go out to restaurants and even tied to music, They're maybe talking with musicians, communicating with sound people and studios and booking gigs. And there's a lot that goes into using our voice for regular communication as musicians and
performers and figuring out how to keep it healthy while we maintain the workload that we often have and juggling many, hats is a challenge or can be a challenge.
Amber Cathey (01:58)
Well, I'm thrilled you're here. And one may I just say you have such a lovely speaking voice, Maurice As you're talking, I'm like, I hear your efficient voice. Right now, which is wonderful. Oh, yeah.
Maurice (02:03)
thank you.
Hahaha.
I was going
to say, you know, this is like a thing that I've had to think about too, though. ⁓ I use my voice a lot every day when I'm working one-on-one with clients and I've had to think about what quality of voicing, what intensity of voicing and what pitch of voicing is going to allow me to sustain that long-term.
I actually don't talk much louder than this at any point. And it's not to say that you can't ever yell or have fun or laugh or go to a bar where a lot of these gigs happen. I, as a human, just don't really elevate my intensity beyond this intentionally because
I'm pretty sensitive to stress and strain. I lose my voice easily. I know some people feel like they can keep going, going, going. I'm not one of those people. And so I think about things like pitch and intensity ⁓ when I'm using my voice.
Amber Cathey (02:49)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yep, totally.
Well, and just as the aside, the positive for others is it's very soothing. I know because this is 10 minutes or less and I would love to just have you jump in. so for people who are listening to this and are like, okay, great, Maurice, I hear you. I know that I speak a lot. ⁓ think too, you kind of mentioned like, I think when we, you I talk to singers and they're like, I don't know why I'm tired. I had an hour rehearsal today. And then I'm like,
Maurice (03:05)
Thank you.
Amber Cathey (03:28)
Well, that's not your only voice use. ⁓ yeah, I talked on the phone for two hours on a drive. just all of that, like you said, living life as a human. What would be a tip or two as people are listening that they can kind of start to work with now or bring an awareness to that you feel like will kind of help them in getting that more optimal, easy voice function across the board?
Maurice (03:49)
Perfect, I have two things that I can easily drop that we will get into more detail with. the first, it comes from pretty traditional voice therapy worlds. We talk about resonant voice a lot. And what does it mean to have a resonant voice? And when we're working with folks that have challenges in their speaking voice and singing voice, we'll use what we call resonant voice techniques. And for us, that looks like a pretty comfortable.
as low effort as possible humming sound at a pitch that feels comfortable. And so what I do, especially if I'm going to be speaking for a long time, I will...
and just kind of gently move and glide my voice around. And then as I'm doing that humming sound, I'll find and feel what's most comfortable for me.
and try not to think too much about being loud or strong, just kind of comfortable and noticing where that comfort is. And then I'll take that sort of resonant sound right into my speaking voice. And as much as I can, I'll try and stay in that resonant space. There can be nuance to that. And we don't have to use the term resonance if that doesn't feel like it connects with you.
Amber Cathey (04:54)
Mm-hmm.
Maurice (05:12)
What we're looking for is a sound that kind of gives you the most bang for your buck, the kind of clearest, easiest quality without a significant amount of effort or work.
Amber Cathey (05:22)
Yeah, I love that the bang for your buck. That's what I'm talking about all day, every day with folks. I'm sure you are too. I'm always looking for whatever can give us the absolute best sound for whatever we're doing vocally for the least amount of work, just because that enables us to do it over and over and over again.
Maurice (05:34)
Mm-hmm.
Amber Cathey (05:38)
So yeah, I love you, President.
Maurice (05:38)
My, yeah, I love a resonant
hum. My second tip actually has nothing to do with using your voice. And it's actually attending to what's happening in your mouth, your jaw, your tongue, and your throat when you are not speaking. I think sometimes singers and humans don't realize how much they hold and grip and kind of clench at rest during non-voicing.
And then when they go to use their voice, they're kind of starting from a posture and a position that's already a little bit tighter. You know, sometimes I'll have singers talk about, well, I have an hour between gigs and in that hour I'm driving in my car, so I'm resting my voice. But that hour is them sitting in traffic where they're really kind of stressed. They're holding pretty tightly onto the steering wheel. And if we look at what the muscles are doing, they're literally just sitting tense and tight. And so is that actually
a form of voice rest before you head into the very next thing. And so we're thinking about what voicing things can we do, but what behaviors and patterns do we also notice when we're not using our voice?
Amber Cathey (06:46)
And are you kind of saying with that just for people listening, are you saying like awareness? really so if you're just squeezing the bejesus out of your steering wheel because you've had it with all the traffic, I certainly relate to that. Is it more building an awareness and trying to relax the shoulders and relax the grip? that kind of...
Maurice (06:51)
Hmm.
Ha ha ha ha ha.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And just like noticing
where some of those holding patterns are in our bodies physically, because we understand that our voice is really, it responds to what's happening in our body. And I have found in my own experience and professional experience that it can sometimes only be as free as we are physically able to be as well.
Amber Cathey (07:27)
Totally, yeah, I love that. I always like to point out a freer body means a freer voice, And of course, I'm gonna guess you are the same. I always tell people if you can, as part of your warmup, check in, stretch out the neck muscles, the shoulders, connect with the body.
Maurice (07:32)
Mm.
Amber Cathey (07:43)
And we can't always do that. We don't always get optimal. I like that just, I mean, that's helpful for me as I'm driving to pick up my day in between sessions to just be aware of like, is everything gripping like crazy? Because if so, that's going to carry right over into the next, into the next.
Maurice (07:52)
Hahaha
Yeah, and
I don't even mean to say all of that gripping is necessarily negative. In some of the work that I do when I have an intense session, I notice that my feet are tight or my hips get a little bit tight because I'm thinking and I'm trying to do good work or I'm working hard. ⁓ That is not negative. And how can I create an awareness around that so that my voicing does feel as free and ready to go as possible?
Amber Cathey (08:25)
Yeah, I love it. And you mentioned when you were first jumping into tip one that we're going to dive into this deeper. Maurice is going to be doing a workshop about all of this in the vocal pro membership, healthy speaking techniques for vocal longevity. I think I should have double checked this before Monday, September 22nd. Does that sound right? I think that's it.
Maurice (08:43)
Yes. Yes.
Amber Cathey (08:45)
So if you are listening to this and it is before Monday, September 22nd, and you want to learn from the great Maurice Goodwin, I'll put a link down below. You can check it out. Also, if you're listening to this after the fact and you want to learn from him, there'll be a recording available in the vocal vault, which is where all of those expert workshops are housed for members. And also, can you, before we finish, Maurice, can you share with people where they can...
Get in touch with you, your podcast so they can hear more of your tips and fabulous soothing voice. And I'll put all that in the show notes as well.
Maurice (09:17)
Perfect. So on the internet, I exist on Instagram as Maurice underscore goodwin. Goodwin, that's my last name. And then the same on TikTok, where I can share a little bit more about my life and being a speech pathologist and things like that. ⁓ have voice pro ed is a continue education company. I started with my colleague Anna Deimer where we geek out about voice things for for voice clinicians and some curious learners. If you're interested in more in the science of the voice.
Amber Cathey (09:25)
you guys.
Maurice (09:45)
And then just my personal website is a great way of getting in touch with me, MauriceGoodwin.com.
Amber Cathey (09:51)
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Maurice. I just so appreciate you. And I know everybody listening appreciates getting to learn from you. I will put all that in the show notes. And then like always, I have lots of freebies for you guys. I'll put those in the show notes as well. Thank you for listening and see you in the next episode.
Maurice (10:07)
Bye.
