The Integrated Voice Practice
The Integrated Voice Practice is a monthly membership program that includes weekly guided voice classes, monthly Q&As, and monthly Master Classes for integrating voice techniques into your acting. This program covers my six-step voice system including techniques and concepts from Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Organic Intelligence®, and Knight-Thompson Speechwork®.
A Voice Practice that Considers the Whole You.
Developing voice technique that integrates into your acting isn't a one-off or one-size-fits all endeavor. In fact, good voicework entails working with so much more than just your vocal production. If you’ve ever had an experience of noticing your voice feeling beautifully expressive and free in one context only for it to completely lock up or shut down in another, you know how true this is.
Your voice is affected by your body and breath, your psyche, your imagination, your nervous system, your environment and more. So if your voice is affected by so many variables –- shouldn’t your voice technique consider these variables, too?
The Integrated Voice Practice is a practical, experiential and science-based voice program I created to help actors at all phases of their career in their development of integrated, embodied, and spontaneous voice technique. As a certified coach of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Knight-Thompson Speechwork®, and Organic Intelligence®, I've combined tools, techniques, and concepts from each of these modalities to build an integrated voice curriculum for actors to help them move from Shut Down to Showing Up to Shining. The system unfolds in six steps.
Self-Awareness involves learning about your personal patterns of breathing, voicing, focusing, and practicing. We learn foundational concepts and principles of voice, breathing, presence and nervous system regulation so that you can begin to cultivate greater awareness around how you might begin to let go of control in some areas (such as habits of breathing), and where you may begin to establish new traits and habits in order to move toward your voice and acting goals.
Stability involves developing a greater understanding of how the complex systems of human beings function, learning tools for creating greater stability in life and performance, and how to grow your capacity so you have more energy to practice, and more appreciation for the complexity of life and our characters. When stability is online, then the mechanics of vocal technique are more likely to be learned and integrated, and the freedom of your imagination is much more available to flourish. Highly informed by Organic Intelligence®.
Settle and Stretch involves a series of exercises aimed at freeing your breathing, eliminating extraneous tension that gets in the way of free and easy vocalizing, creating more resonance, and sensitizing your body. Highly informed by Fitzmaurice Voicework® 'Destructuring’.
Support involves developing greater facility around your vocal support, learning to calibrate your volume with ease, building your connection between yourself and your audience, and cultivating greater vocal stamina for speaking in any context. Support is highly informed by the Fitzmaurice Voicework® ‘Restructuring’ tools.
Speech involves developing more speech clarity, expressivity, and dynamism in your speaking. We delve into more of the traditional voice and speech techniques: speech and articulation, prosody (the musicality of speaking), tools of rhetoric and how we can vocally express complex thoughts, and more. The speech section features techniques from Knight-Thompson Speechwork®.
Surrender involves integrating your voice, speech, and presence tools into story so that you can play and connect to the world of your script much faster and with more ease. Having established a sense of freedom and ease in your body, stability in your nervous system, and greater connection to the mechanics of voice and speech techniques, we deepen our connection to text and our embodiment of our expression.
My program, The Integrated Voice Practice, includes weekly guided voice classes, monthly Master Classes, and monthly Q&As so that you can work through these steps to develop an integrated and embodied voice technique.
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What’s included in the course?Four online course modules covering the foundational elements of voicework: presence, free breathing, vocal support, and volume calibration. Each module includes three to five Lessons, which are designated as either “Foundation Framing” or “Guided Exercises.” The Foundation Framing lessons introduce important terms and concepts and prime you for understanding the techniques you’ll be exploring in that module. The “Guided Exercises” are guided explorations for learning and integrating the voice techniques. The guided exercises can also serve as voice warm-ups for performances, auditions, interviews, and other speaking engagements. There’s also a Bonus section which includes a guided articulator warm-up and additional guided presence exercises.
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How many lessons are included?There are six Foundation Framing lessons, and 11 Guided Exercises (plus 7 bonus exercises), totaling ~6 hours of teaching.
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Where are classes held?Class modules will be hosted on an online platform, which you'll find at https://courses.voiceandspeechwithryan.com, for you to access and move through at your own pace.
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How much is the course?The course costs $225. You can purchase the course here.
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How long will I have access to course materials?For life! Once you purchase the course, you’ll be asked to create a login that you can use to access this course forever. Like any technique, it takes time and practice to truly learn and master so I encourage you to return to the Foundations in Voicework course for years to come!
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How long will it take to complete the course?If you listen to the Module’s “Foundation Framing” lesson, and then do just one "Guided Exercise" per day, you could complete the course in under two weeks. Or if you were to treat the Modules like weekly assignments, you would complete the course in four weeks.
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Do I need previous experience to benefit from this course?Nope! This course is ideal for anyone wanting to integrate the basic foundations of voice technique, whether you’re a seasoned actor looking for greater nuance and control of your voice, or a non-performer looking for greater connection in your speaking engagements and day-to-day communication.
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Is this course only for actors/performers?This course is designed for anyone wanting to learn more about how to find more ease and more freedom when using their voice, whether that's in your acting, singing, public speaking, or general communication. This will be done by exploring how to let go of habits around controlling or managing your breathing, understanding the mechanics of breath as the power source for your voice, working on vocal support, and volume calibration.
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I may have some physical limitations. Does that matter?In every course I teach, I remind my clients to listen to their bodies and to do less than they're capable of. So whether you consider yourself quite flexible, or whether you have injuries or other obstacles that keep you from following along with the movements as I've suggested, I hope you'll calibrate and modify the exercise to suit your body and rhythm. The range of physicality I model throughout the course includes some guided exercises that involve moving onto the floor into gentle stretches such as spinal twists, spinal roll-down, and child's pose, as well as some exercises of working in fetal position (laying on your side) to being on all-fours, to coming to standing. All of these positions can be modified. If you begin the course and have questions about how to modify, please reach out to me as I'd be glad to help support you.
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Is this a singing course?While you’ll certainly find that many of the exercises and techniques are also useful for solid singing, this is really a course for developing more ease in your speaking voice.
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Is this a Fitzmaurice Voicework® course?I’m a certified coach of Fitzmaurice Voicework® so my teachings are always rooted in principles of that specific technique. For example, the modules on vocal support and volume calibration are very influenced by Catherine Fitzmaurice’s teachings around Restructuring™. That said, there is no “Destructuring™” i.e. tremorwork™ in this course, so if you’re looking for a more explicit course in Fitzmaurice Voicework, then I suggest you check out my ongoing class.
Move from Shut Down to Showing Up to Shining...
I've spent the last decade+ honing my approach to voicework for actors, and I've found that actors are in one of three phases with their voice and acting: they're shut down, they're showing up, or they're shining. Each of these phases is totally normal, and in fact, you might see aspects of yourself in each of these. Joining The Integrated Voice Practice can help you gain clarity around your own phases of your voice and presence journey, and help you develop the skills and techniques for moving through these phases to vocal integration and embodiment.
The Shut Down Phase - feeling out of control or overly controlling so that you feel limited in your ability to express. Your system is more or less in a survival mode so that growth is incredibly challenging. This might look like:
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Having lots of extraneous tension in your body, and finding it difficult to breathe.
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Consistently losing your voice or finding yourself vocally fatigued.
If you're showing up, that means you've developed skills, techniques, and practices so that you're feeling greater ease and connection in your performance. -
There’s an incongruence between what you mean to express and how people actually perceive you. You’re stuck in a monotone or “forced” range of expression. You don’t quite feel like yourself when meeting new or significant people, so you overcompensate and feel overly nervous or “fake.”
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Finding it challenging to express a range of emotions.
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Going through cycles of burnout so that you can’t follow through with plans to practice, let alone the day-to-day requirements of your acting career.
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Becoming fixated on getting technique “correct” so that you feel or sound rigid and disconnected.
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Needing to be “right” in your creative choices and work. Finding it difficult to let go of control.
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Getting stuck in analytical thinking and consistently “in your head.”
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You feel as if you’ve plateaued in your acting skillset (and career). You know that you’re capable of so much more than what you’re showing in your work.
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In auditions or other performance contexts, you find yourself freezing, blacking out, or panicking.
The Showing Up Phase - you’re in process and in practice, learning tools and techniques to help you develop your voice technique and expand your vocal capacity. You’re finding new ease and enjoyment in your craft (which allows for new growth). This might look like:
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You’re finding that you’re breathing more effortlessly–you feel your ribs expanding, your belly softening and your neck and shoulders more mobile.
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You know how to support your voice and project without vocal strain.
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You’re finding that your vocal range is expanding, and you’re feeling like there’s more congruence between what you feel and how people perceive you.
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You have tools for regulating your nervous system so you feel more presence (and even enjoyment!) in auditions and performances.
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You’re able to fluidly attend to internal and external awarenesses–you can be conscious of connecting with your technique and your experience of what matters while still staying connected to your scene partners, the audience, camera, etc.
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You have a greater awareness of your thresholds and how to find balance within your life and career – within the “hustle” of the acting industry, you have a better sense of how to take care of yourself, while still meeting the demands of your career.
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You’re finding that you’re performing with more and more ease and stability. And in those occasional moments where you feel yourself overly nervous or moving towards freeze, you know how to support yourself to get back on track.
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You’ve developed greater resilience—so when things don’t work out as you planned or hoped, you bounce back more quickly. You’re better equipped to handle the inconsistencies of the acting industry.
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You’re finding yourself planning for next steps of your career—and can actually follow-through with those plans. You’re feeling optimistic and hopeful about what’s next for you.
The Shining Phase - your skills and techniques have integrated in your system so that your vocal expression is embodied, spontaneous, and authentic, and comes with ease. This phase is acquired after some time and practice. This might look like:
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Your vocal technique is integrated so that your vocal range, breathing, and expression are all free, varied, and spontaneous. You don’t have to “think” about or be conscious of “doing” your techniques—they’re unconsciously working for you in the background.
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Your ability to experience sensations and emotions, and to express from that place is totally available and happening effortlessly. You notice the way people are perceiving you is more closely aligned with how you feel.
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Your vocal facility is totally online so that you can do extremes on set or on stage with ease.
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Your imagination is much more available and you find yourself effortlessly affected by story and script–you’re noticing greater range of images, sensations, thoughts, and emotions arriving as you work.
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You’re able to fluidly and simultaneously attend to internal and external awarenesses—you’re able to feel present to story and character while also aware of the practical requirements of being on set, on stage, etc.
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You feel at ease in the audition process and maybe even some enjoyment. You’re entering professional spaces with a sense of ease and confidence, and you feel like yourself.
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You feel an authentic sense of trust and surrender in your work and career. You have a balance of actions you take and habits you consistently practice, with non-attachment to the results of your performance.
Again, each of these phases is totally normal, and you may recognize traits that are familiar to you from each phase. You'll probably also recognize that you're likely to find the most enrichment and enjoyment if you're able to show-up and shine, and the most likely way to get to that final phase of effortless integration and embodiment of your voice is to engage in a practice that considers your voice within the context of the whole you. That's where the The Integrated Voice Practice comes in.