School-aged drama students face a unique challenge in balancing the typical vocal demands of childhood with those of pre-professional voice use. In the absence of adequate training and care, prolonged periods of vocal hyperactivity may increase the risk of fatigue, maladaptive behaviors, and vocal pathology. These behaviors may follow young performers into their early careers as professional voice users. The benefits of vocal hygiene are well established in the literature, yet school-aged drama students are rarely exposed to high quality training in vocal health and the prevention of vocal injury.

In this workshop, participants will receive hand-on instruction to engage and educate young performers in vocal anatomy and physiology, vocal hygiene, and protective training of the speaking voice. Voice-based games, exercises, and activities will be taught. Principles of play will be incorporated to increase buy-in from students and facilitate successful interventions. Participants will gain insight into how to effectively implement vocal hygiene training programs in a variety of environments, targeting students of varying ages and levels of performance experience. Participants will receive a handout with summary of key takeaways and included activities.

Workshop Outline:

Part 1: Brief review of the literature on risk of vocal pathology in pre-professional voice users and the effectiveness of vocal hygiene education with school-aged drama students

Part 2: Hands-on experience using play, group games, and interactive activities to support vocal hygiene education and healthy voice use with pre-professional voice users

Part 3: Facilitating carryover of learned skills into repertoire and student work