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Voice Coaches Radio #482 – Spring Time = Allergy Time
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh. She is Marissa. We are delighted to have you join us. How we doing? I'm okay. How are you? Um, I'm hanging in there. I'm hanging in there. I'm a little, uh, a little rundown. Yeah, I feel that. Yeah. I'm a little rundown.
Can you hear my voice? Every Friday? That's true. I was gonna say, that's, that's fairly, fairly commonplace. My voice is a little rough, a little rougher than usual, though not as squeaky as yours. Yeah, mine gets really squeaky by Friday, but I'm also gonna blame the pollen right now. Nah, that's, that's a fact.
You know what? It's the pollen, but I'll tell you what. It's the, um. The cottonwood, the cotton, the, the fluff. Yes! That flu uh. Can I tell you, I thought it was just my cat shedding, because it was just flying throughout the house, and I was like, wait a minute, my cat doesn't look like this. Well, here's the thing, I've never experienced that anywhere before.
I've also never had allergies until I moved to New York. Thanks a lot, New York. Um. There is something that grows here that is awful because when I lived in Nebraska and when I lived in Massachusetts, I didn't have my allergies nearly as bad. Yeah, I did not have any allergies. I've only had an allergic attack one time prior to moving here and it was when I was in Texas, in Beaumont, Texas, which by the way is nowhere you should go, but there was a hockey team there at the time and the Texas Wildcatters, in case you were curious, and I got really bad allergies there.
Uh, but that was it, and I was only there for like a week. Uh, here, man, all of it, but it is, so for those of you who don't, you know, live in the area, so yeah, there's pollen. Okay, yeah, we all got the yellow, disgusting pollen. It's intense, though, this year. It is nuts. It's pretty harsh. It's crazy. But we also have this, this stuff called cottonwood, and it's like, It's like a fluff and literally all you'll be driving and it looks like it's snowing.
Yeah, like it is just flying around everywhere. Or it looks like yeah, it looks like your cat got in a fight and it's just fluffing all over the place. And like, you'll, you'll walk around and it like builds up on like your yard. And like I walk around, it looks like there are snow banks. And it's just this fluff that just decides to make me all congested and feel like garbage.
So well, I look through my house and you know, because the fans have all been on because it's been so hot until today, like. I, I noticed little tumbleweeds, right, throughout the house, and I just assume they're from my cat, Lyric. So I'm like, looking at him, blaming him, I'm like, can you stop, please? Uh, only to look at it and realize, oh, sorry, it's not you, but they're just everywhere.
Yes, I know, it is, it is just very old western in my house. It's my good, the bad, and the ugly. Which reminds me, did you remember Blazing Saddles? Did you watch it? No. No, because you didn't bring it. Oh, I didn't bring it. Oh, I was supposed to bring it. That's right, I bring it. Oh, man, I totally forgot. I was supposed to bring this.
I gotta write this down. Okay, hold on. Hold on. That's the good, the bad, and the ugly. That is the great Ennio Morricone who composed that. Uh, Blazing Saddles. Did you, did you watch the other movie I told you to watch? No, not yet. I haven't had any time. Make time. I will. It's a three day weekend. Okay. That's fair.
That's fair. It is a three day weekend. Make time. And if I forget Blazing Saddles next week, then. You can fire me. Um, so it is not The reason why my voice is a little, a little huskier than normal, uh, is not because well, it's partially because of allergies, but it's mostly because I literally was up until midnight last night recording an audio book and was reading it for about two and a half hours and my eyeballs are bleeding.
Oh, I feel like they're gonna fall out of my face. I mean, they're not literally bleeding. They just feel it. They feel like it. Cause I looked at you, and if you were bleeding from the eyes, I'd think you were from that show Manifest, and I'd get real freaked out. That's fair. point. But no, it was, it honestly, um.
I laid in bed last night and I wasn't tired yet because I, you know, was still worked up, but like my head just sank into the pillow. Well, that's the thing, right? When it comes to all this work, because you love what you're doing, there's that. That feed, that, that adrenaline rush, even if you feel like garbage while you're doing it, there's still that energy going through you, so you gotta put your head on the pillow and it's like, yep, nope, not gonna happen yet.
No, but my eyes were not open, that's for sure. Some would say they're not open right now, and that would be correct. That would be correct. Um, but you know what, it's funny, and I was reading it off a tablet, and I was using the blue, blue blockers, the blue, blue blocker lenses, the things to whatever. Um, and did that help?
I have no idea. I don't know if that's, that does anything or if it's magic. It might be magic. I don't know. Um, but what I do know is that, oh man, I mean, again, so I was doing it for two and a half hours last night and my, my voice held up fine. I had, I had my tea, right? I had my water. I was ready. I was able to do it.
Voice wasn't a problem. Eyeballs. Big problem. And I've talked about this before, that that's what gives out first, at least for me. My eyes. Woo! Like by the end, I mean, those words were jumping. Well let's just point out something here. Like if people go and they go to read before bed, if anybody's like me, you get like a page and a half in and you're just done.
You're spent. You're, you're in snooze land and you didn't really get too far into that book. So like trying to do an audio book. In itself, it's going to fatigue those eyes. Yeah, and the problem is, like, I don't know when else to do it. Because, you know, I'm working during the day, and then, you know, in the evening, I have a five year old just absolutely rampaging around the house, and that's Well, see, that's why you're so tired.
Well, yeah, there is a constant state of being. That is a constant state of being. Um, but you know what? It's, uh, it was tough. It was a very quick turnaround. They needed it in 48 hours. Um, luckily it was, I was able to do the whole thing last night, but it was, uh, it was taxing. It was definitely taxing. So, you know, for those who are, who are looking into doing audiobooks, you know, know what you're getting into.
It's reading, but it's not reading. It's It's, it's something. It's something. Um, and, and now I, now I have to edit it all. Ahhhh. That's going to be some time. Just a big sigh of relief when it's all done, man, you know? It will be. It, it, uh, it definitely will. be done by today, so then you can just crack a cold one and enjoy the weekend, you know?
True, I work tomorrow though, so that would be. Nevermind. That would be frowned upon. Maybe not. I don't know. Maybe I'll crack a beer with my students. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. If you are on my schedule for tomorrow, I don't know. Let's see what happens. You're like, hey, this is my Saturday teaching.
That's right. You know what? This is the way Saturdays go. I think I have an in studio demo tomorrow morning and uh, we're going to have a good time. Yeah. We're going to have a good time. Get that air horn going. Just going to hit that record button and uh, pull my chair back. It's time for some Saturday margaritas.
Oh man. Oh, man. Ooh, margaritas. No, thank you. No, thank you. Oh, tequila and Josh don't get along. Oh, well, now I feel like I need to see that. We've had a few issues, uh, tequila and I, and uh, you know, we, we, we, you know, we just go our separate ways. It's a, it's a, uh, it's, it's a relationship built on mutual respect is what it is.
Um, but, um, you know, so yeah. Oh, oh, speaking of audio books, by the way. Yeah. Did you get those tears? I did. I got the tears. It was awesome. Uh, it was awesome. I have the tears. I, I, or I had the tears. I got the tears. Uh, well, she got the tears. I didn't. Um, but I also got a video of it and I showed you the video and it was, uh, it was nice.
It was nice. It worked. Actually, it was really good. Uh, she, she really was, was surprised and, uh, and her whole family was there, which was awesome. So they got to listen to it and I sent copies to all of them as well. Uh, so my, my favorite part. And, uh, if you watch the video. So I give her the, uh, it's a little iPod knock off thing, right?
She doesn't know what's on there. I give her the headphones, start playing it. As it starts to play, she starts to realize what it is. And as that happens, she starts to cry. Great. Then, her sister in law, Nancy, goes, uh, goes, I don't even know what it is, but I'm crying now, too! And I was like, that's amazing.
That's amazing. So, uh, we got multiple tiers in there. One of them didn't even know why they were crying, just, you know, So that was like an added bonus for you. Seemed like the thing to do. Yeah, two for one. Two for one. Two for. Uh, so that was, uh, so no, it was, it was really good. It was, uh, it was, it was definitely, it was definitely a cool experience.
So I was glad I got to do that. Very nice. Yeah. Yeah, so that, uh, Yeah, so that was, that was that. Now, you know, we already talked briefly about, you know, the voice, about the eyes, and about the Um, complications that are present. this time of year, or any time of year, depending on what your allergies are. So, I thought we'd take a second and talk a little bit about, you know, uh, what we can do to, you know, try to mitigate that as best we can.
Give me some options here, Josh. What do you got under your sleeve? Let me tell you, I got some secrets. What you hiding that, holding out on me over there? Here's the thing. You can't. Right? Ultimately, it's gonna happen, and look, if it's in the springtime with allergies or if it's, you know, in the wintertime with whatever, and this is, by the way, this is a, uh, this was true long before there was ever, you know, COVID, this was just, you know, in the winter, people get sick, you get cold, you get, you know, the flu, whatever it might be, I get cold all the time, my colds always turn to bronchitis, which is such a nuisance, um, but anywho, you know, those are gonna happen, you wanna take as best care you can of yourself, Obviously.
Um, you know, but here's the thing. If you have a job and you get a cold, that's a problem. And it's a problem because what are you supposed to do about it? So what you can do, obviously you want to, you know, you want to make sure that you're having that tea. You're taking care of yourself. You're staying hydrated.
And hopefully you're at a place where you can, you know, still adequately do what needs to be done. But maybe you're not. And if you're not, if you know you're super congested, if you're, you know, When I was doing broadcasting, I got laryngitis. I can't broadcast a hockey game, I didn't have a voice! So, that can happen.
For me, it's to get that post nasal drip. It just destroys my vocal cords. Right? If that happens, Well then what do you do, right? You can't do voiceover if you don't have a voice to do it with. So what you hope is that when you tell the client this, that they have a little leeway, they have a little flexibility, they can give you maybe an extra few days or a week to try to get over that.
On the other hand, if they can't, you know what happens? You lose the job. Stinks. But that's the way it is. That's the way it is. That's, that's what happens with, you know, a, a profession that deals with your voice. Right? When I got laryngitis broadcasting, I didn't broadcast games. I couldn't. That happens when you're, when you're doing voiceover.
Obviously, you want to take the best care you can of yourself. You want to do those smart things, right? You want to stay away from those, you know, that caffeine. You want to stay away from those dairy products. Try to keep your voice as clean as you can. You want to have as much water as possible. Get that vitamin C up in ya.
Uh, elderberry syrup. That's what, that's what we use. Oh my god. Can I tell you? Like, that's one of those things. So, it's labeled as a cough syrup. But this is one of those. um, medicines that, like, some pharmacist had, like, pointed my mom in the direction of, because she was just picking me up, something that she thought maybe would help me on a really busy day.
And she, she stops by my house and she goes, here, the pharmacist recommended this. And I went and I took, like, you know, a shot of it. I was like, Oh, it is disgusting, but it works. So elderberry syrup, by the way, we make our own. Um, aren't you fancy ? Well, okay, lemme rephrase that. My wife makes her own . I don't do anything.
Um, but what she does, so she, she takes the elderberries and cooks them, boils them, but, uh, uh, I dunno, sautes, I don't dunno what the heck she does with 'em, something with tastes them, they're real fancy. So, no, maybe. Um, and then, uh, um, But then adds, like, honey and other stuff, so it's more palatable, um, it's more palatable.
But it's good for your immune system, supposedly. Uh, again, could be magic, I don't know. I don't know, I'm not a doctor. Well, that's the thing is, like, this one has honey in it and stuff, but it is just... Like, I think I've built up a little bit of a tolerance for it now. Um... But I'm just gonna say it's an acquired taste.
Fair enough. It's kinda like plain seltzer water. Like, you gotta, it's an acquired taste. You know? Fair enough. Who complains about plain seltzer water? It's just kinda weird. It's kinda just bubbly water and it's kinda gross at first. I mean, it is, it's weird. It is weird. I, I, yes. That's, that's true. I've never heard anyone complain like, Oh, it's so...
Boring. Well, imagine that you're expecting it to be Sprite, and then all of a sudden it's just water, and you're like, Whoa! Well, that changes things, though, because if you're expecting it to be one thing and it's another, that's a different story. Right. That's a different story, right? That's it tasted like garbage, and I was like, what is happening?
But if you weren't expecting, if you thought it was going to be seltzer water, and it was, you'd be like, eh, it's just seltzer water. Well, that sounds more like a you problem. Oh, well, fine. I feel like if it turns out to be like grapefruit juice, I think I'm going to die. Like, pretty sure my life flashes before my eyes at that point.
And I'm like, what just happened? I'm just saying that sometimes And then God forbid I brush my teeth! I know! I mean, sometimes you're expecting one thing. And then it turns out to be disgusting, and not flavorful and berry like, you know? That's fair, that's fair. Though I think that's more of a mental block.
But I don't know, hey, I don't know. Um, but again, you know, there are going to be times where, you know, your health is going to affect this job, and that's just... the way it is with this particular profession, with any type of profession like this. So that's why being healthy is, you know, staying healthy and, and, and doing everything you can to try to mitigate those things is so important because once it happens, once you're in it, right, once you get that cold, once you get that bronchitis, once your voice goes, there's not much you can do at that point.
So it's all about. So, you know, taking things, those preventative measures, whatever they might be, whether it's things to help your immune system like elderberry syrup or something of that effect. Maybe not for you, but for me. Sometimes it's really getting the proper amount of sleep too, because I know like the moment that I'm run down, my body instantly reacts like I have a cold, even if I don't really have one.
Yeah. So sleep is important. Yeah. It's very important. Sleep is definitely important, right? Drinking enough water. That's important. So do all those things to help you take care of your body. And that way you don't have to deal with this as often, but when it does happen, again, you do whatever you can to try to get your way through it, but if your voice...
isn't where it's supposed to be, then you could find yourself in a situation where it stinks, but, you know, it is what it is. And that, uh, and that's unfortunately the case. So, you know, taking those, again, if you know that it's allergy season, make sure to take your antihistamines or whatever, which I actually forgot to do this morning.
Oh no. Okay, well today's gonna be a long day. Today's gonna be a long day. I did, I did forget to do that this morning. That's not great. Um. But regardless, um, you know, make sure to don't forget things like that, but you know, make sure to do those things ahead of time so you can try to prepare for it as best you can, as best you can.
That's all you can really do so you don't end up coming into the studio and sounding like we do right now. Tired and, and just worthless. Yeah. Um, well, excellent. Well, um, anything else? I think that may have been it, Josh. I think it's time to enjoy the weekend. For me. You have to work tomorrow. I also have to work.
You have to work the rest of the day today. What are you doing today? I mean. You're right. I do have to do all the classes and all my radio shows, but that's beside the point. I know, I know people listening, it's, it might be later in the day. It's quarter ten in the morning. Like, I know. I'm done, folks.
Putting the feet up. Putting the feet up. It's not like I'm saying I'm gonna start drinking now, but geez. It's not saying that. It's not saying that. So if you have my classes tomorrow, you have Marissa's classes today. Who knows? Who knows? It's a pretty... It's gonna be a fun, fancy Friday. Yeah, something like that.
Something like that. Uh, well, excellent. Well, thank you so much for tuning in this week and um, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, discussion topics you'd like us to go through, whatever it might be, let us know. Josh at voicecoaches. com, that's the quickest, easiest, most efficient way to get in touch with me.
Josh at voicecoaches. com. You can get in touch with me that way. You can get in touch with get in touch with Sam that way. You can get in touch with anybody that way. I'll pass it along. I'm a good guy. All right, so Josh at VoiceCoaches. com, quickest, easiest way to do that, uh, to let us know what you think.
All right, and uh, aside from that, Marissa, thanks so much for uh, for dragging yourself uh, out of bed this morning and heading on in here. Hey, I came right from the gym, you know, pick things up, put them down. Wow. Yeah. I pick things up and put them down. That's right. Very good. Very good. I like it. I can get, I can get down with that.
I can get down with that. Well, excellent. Well, thank you for, uh, you know, for, uh, leaving your, your pump and, uh, and chatting with us here today. And again, thanks so much everyone for tuning in this week. We'll see y'all next week. Same bad time, same bad channel. And until then, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
Can you hear my voice? Every Friday? That's true. I was gonna say, that's, that's fairly, fairly commonplace. My voice is a little rough, a little rougher than usual, though not as squeaky as yours. Yeah, mine gets really squeaky by Friday, but I'm also gonna blame the pollen right now. Nah, that's, that's a fact.
You know what? It's the pollen, but I'll tell you what. It's the, um. The cottonwood, the cotton, the, the fluff. Yes! That flu uh. Can I tell you, I thought it was just my cat shedding, because it was just flying throughout the house, and I was like, wait a minute, my cat doesn't look like this. Well, here's the thing, I've never experienced that anywhere before.
I've also never had allergies until I moved to New York. Thanks a lot, New York. Um. There is something that grows here that is awful because when I lived in Nebraska and when I lived in Massachusetts, I didn't have my allergies nearly as bad. Yeah, I did not have any allergies. I've only had an allergic attack one time prior to moving here and it was when I was in Texas, in Beaumont, Texas, which by the way is nowhere you should go, but there was a hockey team there at the time and the Texas Wildcatters, in case you were curious, and I got really bad allergies there.
Uh, but that was it, and I was only there for like a week. Uh, here, man, all of it, but it is, so for those of you who don't, you know, live in the area, so yeah, there's pollen. Okay, yeah, we all got the yellow, disgusting pollen. It's intense, though, this year. It is nuts. It's pretty harsh. It's crazy. But we also have this, this stuff called cottonwood, and it's like, It's like a fluff and literally all you'll be driving and it looks like it's snowing.
Yeah, like it is just flying around everywhere. Or it looks like yeah, it looks like your cat got in a fight and it's just fluffing all over the place. And like, you'll, you'll walk around and it like builds up on like your yard. And like I walk around, it looks like there are snow banks. And it's just this fluff that just decides to make me all congested and feel like garbage.
So well, I look through my house and you know, because the fans have all been on because it's been so hot until today, like. I, I noticed little tumbleweeds, right, throughout the house, and I just assume they're from my cat, Lyric. So I'm like, looking at him, blaming him, I'm like, can you stop, please? Uh, only to look at it and realize, oh, sorry, it's not you, but they're just everywhere.
Yes, I know, it is, it is just very old western in my house. It's my good, the bad, and the ugly. Which reminds me, did you remember Blazing Saddles? Did you watch it? No. No, because you didn't bring it. Oh, I didn't bring it. Oh, I was supposed to bring it. That's right, I bring it. Oh, man, I totally forgot. I was supposed to bring this.
I gotta write this down. Okay, hold on. Hold on. That's the good, the bad, and the ugly. That is the great Ennio Morricone who composed that. Uh, Blazing Saddles. Did you, did you watch the other movie I told you to watch? No, not yet. I haven't had any time. Make time. I will. It's a three day weekend. Okay. That's fair.
That's fair. It is a three day weekend. Make time. And if I forget Blazing Saddles next week, then. You can fire me. Um, so it is not The reason why my voice is a little, a little huskier than normal, uh, is not because well, it's partially because of allergies, but it's mostly because I literally was up until midnight last night recording an audio book and was reading it for about two and a half hours and my eyeballs are bleeding.
Oh, I feel like they're gonna fall out of my face. I mean, they're not literally bleeding. They just feel it. They feel like it. Cause I looked at you, and if you were bleeding from the eyes, I'd think you were from that show Manifest, and I'd get real freaked out. That's fair. point. But no, it was, it honestly, um.
I laid in bed last night and I wasn't tired yet because I, you know, was still worked up, but like my head just sank into the pillow. Well, that's the thing, right? When it comes to all this work, because you love what you're doing, there's that. That feed, that, that adrenaline rush, even if you feel like garbage while you're doing it, there's still that energy going through you, so you gotta put your head on the pillow and it's like, yep, nope, not gonna happen yet.
No, but my eyes were not open, that's for sure. Some would say they're not open right now, and that would be correct. That would be correct. Um, but you know what, it's funny, and I was reading it off a tablet, and I was using the blue, blue blockers, the blue, blue blocker lenses, the things to whatever. Um, and did that help?
I have no idea. I don't know if that's, that does anything or if it's magic. It might be magic. I don't know. Um, but what I do know is that, oh man, I mean, again, so I was doing it for two and a half hours last night and my, my voice held up fine. I had, I had my tea, right? I had my water. I was ready. I was able to do it.
Voice wasn't a problem. Eyeballs. Big problem. And I've talked about this before, that that's what gives out first, at least for me. My eyes. Woo! Like by the end, I mean, those words were jumping. Well let's just point out something here. Like if people go and they go to read before bed, if anybody's like me, you get like a page and a half in and you're just done.
You're spent. You're, you're in snooze land and you didn't really get too far into that book. So like trying to do an audio book. In itself, it's going to fatigue those eyes. Yeah, and the problem is, like, I don't know when else to do it. Because, you know, I'm working during the day, and then, you know, in the evening, I have a five year old just absolutely rampaging around the house, and that's Well, see, that's why you're so tired.
Well, yeah, there is a constant state of being. That is a constant state of being. Um, but you know what? It's, uh, it was tough. It was a very quick turnaround. They needed it in 48 hours. Um, luckily it was, I was able to do the whole thing last night, but it was, uh, it was taxing. It was definitely taxing. So, you know, for those who are, who are looking into doing audiobooks, you know, know what you're getting into.
It's reading, but it's not reading. It's It's, it's something. It's something. Um, and, and now I, now I have to edit it all. Ahhhh. That's going to be some time. Just a big sigh of relief when it's all done, man, you know? It will be. It, it, uh, it definitely will. be done by today, so then you can just crack a cold one and enjoy the weekend, you know?
True, I work tomorrow though, so that would be. Nevermind. That would be frowned upon. Maybe not. I don't know. Maybe I'll crack a beer with my students. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. If you are on my schedule for tomorrow, I don't know. Let's see what happens. You're like, hey, this is my Saturday teaching.
That's right. You know what? This is the way Saturdays go. I think I have an in studio demo tomorrow morning and uh, we're going to have a good time. Yeah. We're going to have a good time. Get that air horn going. Just going to hit that record button and uh, pull my chair back. It's time for some Saturday margaritas.
Oh man. Oh, man. Ooh, margaritas. No, thank you. No, thank you. Oh, tequila and Josh don't get along. Oh, well, now I feel like I need to see that. We've had a few issues, uh, tequila and I, and uh, you know, we, we, we, you know, we just go our separate ways. It's a, it's a, uh, it's, it's a relationship built on mutual respect is what it is.
Um, but, um, you know, so yeah. Oh, oh, speaking of audio books, by the way. Yeah. Did you get those tears? I did. I got the tears. It was awesome. Uh, it was awesome. I have the tears. I, I, or I had the tears. I got the tears. Uh, well, she got the tears. I didn't. Um, but I also got a video of it and I showed you the video and it was, uh, it was nice.
It was nice. It worked. Actually, it was really good. Uh, she, she really was, was surprised and, uh, and her whole family was there, which was awesome. So they got to listen to it and I sent copies to all of them as well. Uh, so my, my favorite part. And, uh, if you watch the video. So I give her the, uh, it's a little iPod knock off thing, right?
She doesn't know what's on there. I give her the headphones, start playing it. As it starts to play, she starts to realize what it is. And as that happens, she starts to cry. Great. Then, her sister in law, Nancy, goes, uh, goes, I don't even know what it is, but I'm crying now, too! And I was like, that's amazing.
That's amazing. So, uh, we got multiple tiers in there. One of them didn't even know why they were crying, just, you know, So that was like an added bonus for you. Seemed like the thing to do. Yeah, two for one. Two for one. Two for. Uh, so that was, uh, so no, it was, it was really good. It was, uh, it was, it was definitely, it was definitely a cool experience.
So I was glad I got to do that. Very nice. Yeah. Yeah, so that, uh, Yeah, so that was, that was that. Now, you know, we already talked briefly about, you know, the voice, about the eyes, and about the Um, complications that are present. this time of year, or any time of year, depending on what your allergies are. So, I thought we'd take a second and talk a little bit about, you know, uh, what we can do to, you know, try to mitigate that as best we can.
Give me some options here, Josh. What do you got under your sleeve? Let me tell you, I got some secrets. What you hiding that, holding out on me over there? Here's the thing. You can't. Right? Ultimately, it's gonna happen, and look, if it's in the springtime with allergies or if it's, you know, in the wintertime with whatever, and this is, by the way, this is a, uh, this was true long before there was ever, you know, COVID, this was just, you know, in the winter, people get sick, you get cold, you get, you know, the flu, whatever it might be, I get cold all the time, my colds always turn to bronchitis, which is such a nuisance, um, but anywho, you know, those are gonna happen, you wanna take as best care you can of yourself, Obviously.
Um, you know, but here's the thing. If you have a job and you get a cold, that's a problem. And it's a problem because what are you supposed to do about it? So what you can do, obviously you want to, you know, you want to make sure that you're having that tea. You're taking care of yourself. You're staying hydrated.
And hopefully you're at a place where you can, you know, still adequately do what needs to be done. But maybe you're not. And if you're not, if you know you're super congested, if you're, you know, When I was doing broadcasting, I got laryngitis. I can't broadcast a hockey game, I didn't have a voice! So, that can happen.
For me, it's to get that post nasal drip. It just destroys my vocal cords. Right? If that happens, Well then what do you do, right? You can't do voiceover if you don't have a voice to do it with. So what you hope is that when you tell the client this, that they have a little leeway, they have a little flexibility, they can give you maybe an extra few days or a week to try to get over that.
On the other hand, if they can't, you know what happens? You lose the job. Stinks. But that's the way it is. That's the way it is. That's, that's what happens with, you know, a, a profession that deals with your voice. Right? When I got laryngitis broadcasting, I didn't broadcast games. I couldn't. That happens when you're, when you're doing voiceover.
Obviously, you want to take the best care you can of yourself. You want to do those smart things, right? You want to stay away from those, you know, that caffeine. You want to stay away from those dairy products. Try to keep your voice as clean as you can. You want to have as much water as possible. Get that vitamin C up in ya.
Uh, elderberry syrup. That's what, that's what we use. Oh my god. Can I tell you? Like, that's one of those things. So, it's labeled as a cough syrup. But this is one of those. um, medicines that, like, some pharmacist had, like, pointed my mom in the direction of, because she was just picking me up, something that she thought maybe would help me on a really busy day.
And she, she stops by my house and she goes, here, the pharmacist recommended this. And I went and I took, like, you know, a shot of it. I was like, Oh, it is disgusting, but it works. So elderberry syrup, by the way, we make our own. Um, aren't you fancy ? Well, okay, lemme rephrase that. My wife makes her own . I don't do anything.
Um, but what she does, so she, she takes the elderberries and cooks them, boils them, but, uh, uh, I dunno, sautes, I don't dunno what the heck she does with 'em, something with tastes them, they're real fancy. So, no, maybe. Um, and then, uh, um, But then adds, like, honey and other stuff, so it's more palatable, um, it's more palatable.
But it's good for your immune system, supposedly. Uh, again, could be magic, I don't know. I don't know, I'm not a doctor. Well, that's the thing is, like, this one has honey in it and stuff, but it is just... Like, I think I've built up a little bit of a tolerance for it now. Um... But I'm just gonna say it's an acquired taste.
Fair enough. It's kinda like plain seltzer water. Like, you gotta, it's an acquired taste. You know? Fair enough. Who complains about plain seltzer water? It's just kinda weird. It's kinda just bubbly water and it's kinda gross at first. I mean, it is, it's weird. It is weird. I, I, yes. That's, that's true. I've never heard anyone complain like, Oh, it's so...
Boring. Well, imagine that you're expecting it to be Sprite, and then all of a sudden it's just water, and you're like, Whoa! Well, that changes things, though, because if you're expecting it to be one thing and it's another, that's a different story. Right. That's a different story, right? That's it tasted like garbage, and I was like, what is happening?
But if you weren't expecting, if you thought it was going to be seltzer water, and it was, you'd be like, eh, it's just seltzer water. Well, that sounds more like a you problem. Oh, well, fine. I feel like if it turns out to be like grapefruit juice, I think I'm going to die. Like, pretty sure my life flashes before my eyes at that point.
And I'm like, what just happened? I'm just saying that sometimes And then God forbid I brush my teeth! I know! I mean, sometimes you're expecting one thing. And then it turns out to be disgusting, and not flavorful and berry like, you know? That's fair, that's fair. Though I think that's more of a mental block.
But I don't know, hey, I don't know. Um, but again, you know, there are going to be times where, you know, your health is going to affect this job, and that's just... the way it is with this particular profession, with any type of profession like this. So that's why being healthy is, you know, staying healthy and, and, and doing everything you can to try to mitigate those things is so important because once it happens, once you're in it, right, once you get that cold, once you get that bronchitis, once your voice goes, there's not much you can do at that point.
So it's all about. So, you know, taking things, those preventative measures, whatever they might be, whether it's things to help your immune system like elderberry syrup or something of that effect. Maybe not for you, but for me. Sometimes it's really getting the proper amount of sleep too, because I know like the moment that I'm run down, my body instantly reacts like I have a cold, even if I don't really have one.
Yeah. So sleep is important. Yeah. It's very important. Sleep is definitely important, right? Drinking enough water. That's important. So do all those things to help you take care of your body. And that way you don't have to deal with this as often, but when it does happen, again, you do whatever you can to try to get your way through it, but if your voice...
isn't where it's supposed to be, then you could find yourself in a situation where it stinks, but, you know, it is what it is. And that, uh, and that's unfortunately the case. So, you know, taking those, again, if you know that it's allergy season, make sure to take your antihistamines or whatever, which I actually forgot to do this morning.
Oh no. Okay, well today's gonna be a long day. Today's gonna be a long day. I did, I did forget to do that this morning. That's not great. Um. But regardless, um, you know, make sure to don't forget things like that, but you know, make sure to do those things ahead of time so you can try to prepare for it as best you can, as best you can.
That's all you can really do so you don't end up coming into the studio and sounding like we do right now. Tired and, and just worthless. Yeah. Um, well, excellent. Well, um, anything else? I think that may have been it, Josh. I think it's time to enjoy the weekend. For me. You have to work tomorrow. I also have to work.
You have to work the rest of the day today. What are you doing today? I mean. You're right. I do have to do all the classes and all my radio shows, but that's beside the point. I know, I know people listening, it's, it might be later in the day. It's quarter ten in the morning. Like, I know. I'm done, folks.
Putting the feet up. Putting the feet up. It's not like I'm saying I'm gonna start drinking now, but geez. It's not saying that. It's not saying that. So if you have my classes tomorrow, you have Marissa's classes today. Who knows? Who knows? It's a pretty... It's gonna be a fun, fancy Friday. Yeah, something like that.
Something like that. Uh, well, excellent. Well, thank you so much for tuning in this week and um, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, discussion topics you'd like us to go through, whatever it might be, let us know. Josh at voicecoaches. com, that's the quickest, easiest, most efficient way to get in touch with me.
Josh at voicecoaches. com. You can get in touch with me that way. You can get in touch with get in touch with Sam that way. You can get in touch with anybody that way. I'll pass it along. I'm a good guy. All right, so Josh at VoiceCoaches. com, quickest, easiest way to do that, uh, to let us know what you think.
All right, and uh, aside from that, Marissa, thanks so much for uh, for dragging yourself uh, out of bed this morning and heading on in here. Hey, I came right from the gym, you know, pick things up, put them down. Wow. Yeah. I pick things up and put them down. That's right. Very good. Very good. I like it. I can get, I can get down with that.
I can get down with that. Well, excellent. Well, thank you for, uh, you know, for, uh, leaving your, your pump and, uh, and chatting with us here today. And again, thanks so much everyone for tuning in this week. We'll see y'all next week. Same bad time, same bad channel. And until then, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
Spring has sprung, which means pollen, cotton wood, and other allergens are out en force. Josh and Marissa discuss this yearly struggle, and how to best get through the season.
