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As a voice coach Barbara invites people to find their voices, whatever that means to them. Her book, Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence, presents what she has learned from decades of “midwifing voices.” Since 2013 she has been training other Full Voice Coaches. Barbara’s singing keynotes explore themes of leadership, meaning, voice and community for people in a wide variety of professions: training, health care, law, education, nonprofits and industry. Her twelve years as an organizational development consultant helps keep things real and relevant. Barbara is also a singer/songwriter with eight albums of mostly original music. The lyric-rich songs tap into jazz, gospel and folk roots. She lives across the street from the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Unleashing your full voice
In late 80s Barbara participated in workshops about sounds by Roy Hart Centre. That opened her voice and changed her life to become a voice coach.
Barbara believes that for unleashing your full voice:
- You must start paying attention to your voice.
- Find the different five elements in your voice (earth, fire, water, metal, air), and learn how to use them in different situations.
The most common problem found in voices
Many people are stuck in one or two ways of speaking, stuck in a habit. It works well in only part of their lives.
Barbara’s TEDx talks
Barbara has done two excellent TEDx talks:
- Bringing Your Full Voice to Life
- How Oral Tradition Singing Helps Us Live & Work Better Together
Related: Let Your Leadership Voice Shine Through
Favorite quotations
“To free the voice is to free the person.” — Kristin Linklater
“The voice is the muscle of the soul.” — Alfred Wolfsohn
Recommended books
The Human Voice by Anne Karpf
Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence by Barbara McAfee
Routine to Shine
Practice the 5 voices (earth, fire, water, metal, air).
Make a playlist of songs you can’t resist singing, and just sing. Then bring that sense of singing back to how you speak.
Links
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