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
Yoga Teacher Training Module
$125/hr
Include Allison’s workshop into your existing Yoga Teacher Training module, and you’ll be offering a compelling and unique aspect to your YTT. The workshop is typically two hours, but can be expanded into three. It’s interactive, it’s fun, and it’s full of information about a often-neglected area of yoga teacher training: the awareness and care of your all-important voice.
Freestanding Workshop
Market Rate, 60/40 split
Allison’s 2 hour workshop can be offered as a free-standing paid workshop, either for yoga teacher trainees or as a tune-up for established teachers. The cost of the workshop can be determined by what each specific studio charges for their independent workshops, and the split is 60/40. The workshop can be done in person or virtually.
One On One
General Vocal Coaching
$300 for 3 Hours
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, or in the case of clients outside of Calgary, Allison will evaluate a recording made by you. 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, (or analyzes a second recording) and posts both recordings on a secure FTP site for your retrieval and review. Those clients outside the Calgary area are coached by video link and which can recorded at your request.
Corporate Vocal Coaching
Rate TBA, depending on size of group
A large part of your corporate presence — in and out of the boardroom — can be made or broken by how your staff presents themselves vocally. All sales and client-facing staff should make sure that their voice is not selling them – or the company -- short. Allison does vocal coaching of corporate client groups, raising awareness of strong vocalization in presentations, client webinars, pitches and meetings — and day-to-day co-worker interactions. Rates vary on number of required sessions and attendees.
“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.
C. Corbett
Allison's workshop taught our instructors practical tools for using our greatest gift in teacher yoga: our voice! I recommend her workshop to teacher training students and seasoned teachers alike.
Karen Andersen, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Kushala Yoga, Port Moody, BC
"I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Allison! Her workshop helped me to be more aware of my vocal patterns and how they emerge in my teaching. Allison shares her knowledge in a way that's fun and accessible, making it easier to integrate the lessons that she shares. I feel empowered to use my voice to communicate cues to students clearly and confidently."