Just Be Yourself – Voice Fatigue / BBS syndrome by James Herron

Hello All,

I read this blog post a few weeks ago… and its implications have been stuck in my head ever since.

I wanted to share it with you in case you didnt have a chance to read it on Voice Over Universe. The writer is James Herron and he talks about his experience with BBS Syndrome:

” I had been finding that some days by 11 am my voice was beginning to fatigue. If you rely on your voice as your livelihood as I do, this can be particularly troublesome.

I first noticed this issue about a year ago. What was going on? What the heck was causing this to occur? Was it something serious? Was it environmental?

My thoughts ran wild with everything from voice polyps; cancer, food and drink issues. I imagined everything and anything.

Scheduling voice over sessions was also challenging and at times an issue since my voice was at its best in the early morning hours EST. Clients on the “left coast” would often receive a request to record as early as possible. Fortunately, I’ve had such wonderfully flexible and understanding clientele…”

Read the rest of it here

I wont delve into this too deeply… but once you guys read James’ post think about what we might be doing to our voices bending them out of shape to achieve “That Sound” that might not be especially beneficial to your health in the long run.

Learn from James’ experience and let your voice be itself… I don’t mean by that statement that you abandon the development of your voice and your portfolio of vocal gymnastics… just take it easy and find your voice’s zen place for the majority of your work.

Many thanks for James Herron for sharing his experience.

Taji