Strategies for Carry-Over

The goal of voice therapy is to be able to use your easy, clear voice in conversation!

Are you able to achieve clear voice while you're performing the exercises, but you can't seem to keep it in conversation?

Just like learning any new skill or habit, it can take time for it to be completely natural and you don't have to think about it. For example, say you are learning a new technique for your tennis stroke. When you practice with the ball machine or with your coach, you seem to be getting the hang of it. Then you try implementing this in a match - and you realize you've gone right back to your old ways! This is because you haven't quite worked your way through the motor learning stages yet.

What are the four stages of motor learning theory?

1) Unconscious inefficiency

• This is when you are not even aware that you are doing something inefficiently - so how are you supposed to change it?

2) Conscious inefficiency

• Now you're aware that you're doing something inefficiently, but you don't have the tools or skills yet to change it.

3) Conscious efficiency

• This is a great place to be! You now know what you need to do and can do it when you are thinking about it, but it takes cognitive effort still and does not come naturally.

4) Unconscious efficiency

• The ultimate goal and probably the hardest stage to reach - but possible with consistent practice! This is when you have acquired the new habit or skill and do this naturally without significant cognitive effort.

• However, it does not mean you will NEVER slip back into old habits and require a tune up - this is natural too!

Okay, so now that you know about the stages, how do you reach stage 4 of unconscious efficiency?

Let's return to the sports analogy. When learning a new technique, we typically start with drills. In the context of voice, these are your exercises. These allow you to start to explore the feeling and sound of your voice with use of facilitators to help you achieve this more easily. But drills in isolation aren't helpful if they are not applied to a real life situation. But going straight to competition (or conversation) can be daunting, perhaps there is an in between...

Typically after drills, we scrimmage. This allows us to practice the new skills in a functional context but without the pressure of winning. In the case of voice, this would be reading aloud or in conversation practice with your voice therapist or a close friend or family member about an easy known topic. Choosing a time to really focus on how you're using your voice and not what you are saying, can be extremely helpful for carry over. Reading aloud is especially helpful in focusing on breath and voice coordination (use those commas and periods as reminders to replenish your breath!), while structured conversation practice with a familiar partner adds more cognitive load. The more frequently you do this, the faster you will reach unconscious efficiency. (Of course, if you have not been able to achieve a clear, easy voice even during exercises, we wouldn't expect you to be able to do it in these more challenging contexts yet either. Make sure to work with a voice therapist to help you find this clear and easy voice if you can't on your own!).

The last and most challenging context is of course, conversation! Why is it so challenging? Not only are you needing to keep your voice easy and clear, but you are also thinking about what you are saying, what they are saying... not to mention, other factors at play including emotion or other environmental distractions/noise.

Because of this, be patient with yourself! You may not always be perfect in these situations, but if you've practiced, feel confident that your body knows what to do, and even if you slip, you'll have the tools to get back on track. Go get 'em tiger!

Happy Practicing!

Sara Charney MS, CCC-SLP