Voice Workshops For Yoga Teachers
Allison Smith is an internationally-known voice talent, who specializes in voicing telephone systems.
She is also a life-long yoga practitioner, who has an endless fascination with human speech: how we say what we say.
It became clear to her — through her years of practicing yoga — that very little emphasis is put on yoga teacher’s training on the *quality* of the voice — and that few things can disrupt an otherwise strong yoga teaching paradigm as repetitive, bad speech habits, upspeak, vocal fry, or an artificial “sweetening” or “raising” of the vocal register — even unconsciously adopting a “character” as you enter the studio to teach.
Through her one-on-one coaching and group workshops, Allison provides a rare look into the most common pitfalls that a lack of mindfulness of the voice can cause in the yoga classroom.
Your students will be more engaged; your voice will experience less strain; and your yoga teaching will be enhanced and forever expanded.
But it’s not just for yoga teachers: Allison coaches *anyone* who wishes to improve their vocal style; whether you wish to speak more effectively in a corporate setting or just interact better with your fellow humans.
Types of Classes
One-On-One
Yoga Teacher Coaching
$350
Allison’s One on One Coaching of yoga teachers consists of an initial one hour meeting, where your goals are established and a lesson plan is discussed. Allison then attends one of your yoga classes and discreetly records it. An evaluation is made of your vocal style; outlining aspects which work well and pinpointing areas which could benefit from a tune-up. A subsequent meeting is scheduled to discuss the findings, and to listen to specific clips that have been highlighted. Allison then attends a subsequent class, analyzes the second recording, and posts both recordings on a secure FTP site for your retrieval and review. Those clients outside the Calgary area will be offered a similar course plan with meetings via Skype and recording of the files handled by the student and uploaded onto Allison’s secure FTP site.
Group Sessions
Yoga Classes of Five or more
$550
In group sessions, Allison offers an intensive, 2-Hour Workshop which involves theory, vocal drills, and the exciting center-stage experience of each student teaching a mini class to the entire group, who — along with Allison — provides feedback, suggestions, and opportunities to try other approaches. The recording of your “mini-class” is reviewed by Allison, and then a one-on-one session follows, where Allison deconstructs your style, offers coaching as to areas which would benefit from change; all the while retaining as much of your natural cadence. It’s a safe space; facilitative and energizing.
One On One
General Vocal Coaching
$75/hr
Not a yoga teacher? Still interested in refining your vocal style and identifying aspects which may be holding you back professionally? Allison offers one-on-one coaching to help you get through vocal roadblocks and learn some skills to keep you speaking effectively and safely in your everyday life.
Corporate Vocal Coaching
Price TBD
A large part of your corporate presence — in and out of the boardroom — can be made or broken by how your present yourself vocally. Not advancing? Not chosen for client-facing interaction? It could be your voice. Allison does vocal coaching of corporate clients, raising awareness of strong vocalization in presentations, client webinars, meetings — and day-to-day co-worker interactions. Rates vary on number of required sessions.
“Working with Allison has been very helpful in pinpointing vocal tendency I had but was not in every case aware of. Finding these key points helped me to offer more precise cues with confidence and clarity. I feel Allison can greatly assist any teacher looking to have a more confident voice in the room.”
Anton Edwards — Yoga Instructor
“Allison is a wonderfully skilled facilitator. She is professional and provides tremendous insight as to how your voice translates to others and how you can connect more deeply to your own voice and communicate clearly with precision.”
Ale Veffer — Yoga Instructor
“I found Allison’s information very useful and I have found myself noting habits in teachers & presenters since our talk. It is the up speak and friability (also the depth of voice) that I have focused on, to the point of actually trying to lower my voice when teaching & speaking more slowly. All very useful information!”
Geri Dale Grenier — Yoga Teacher Trainee
After many years of feeling self-conscious about my voice I decided to reach out to Allison for coaching. I was really impressed with Allison's teaching ability; she provided honest but gentle feedback and made the process fun. I truly enjoyed our time together. She had a great understanding of the professional environments in which I speak and focussed our time together on these situations. After just a few sessions I feel far more confident public speaking and have several strategies that I will use to continue to use moving forward. I would not hesitate to recommend Allison as a coach to anyone interested in improving their speaking skills.
Cliona Corbett