OBJECTIVE:
Singers’ performance depends on far more than their vocal technique. This workshop explores the multifaceted factors that influence vocal health and performance when singers are not actually singing including sleep, nutrition, mental wellbeing, movement, and lifestyle, and the current evidence we have to motivate these recommendations. The goal of this workshop is to provide singing teachers and speech-language pathologists with strategies to implement into their care, tools to provide to students and patients, and thoughtful discussion about the aspects of singers’ lives that are often overlooked.

METHODS:
The workshop will be split into three main sections, with opportunities for engagement and collaboration throughout:
1. A review of the scientific evidence for lifestyle recommendations for the voice. This will be the most didactic part of the workshop, with opportunities for participants to share their own experiences with students and patients, discussing what they have found to be the most important aspects that support vocal health and performance.
2. Video responses with singers and their lived experiences. Participants will watch videos of interviews with singers in which they are asked about their lifestyle habits and choices and how they have found them to influence their voice.
3. Small group collaboration in discussion of cases. Participants will split up and discuss each case, considering how they would approach working with each singer given their unique vocal demands and experiences.
Through thoughtful discussion about barriers and opportunities for implementing holistic care practices, as well as by providing practical tools to provide students and patients to monitor their wellbeing (e.g., apps, resources), participants will reflect on their practices.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Describe key lifestyle and wellness factors that influence vocal health and performance.
2. Gain tools for students and patients to track their habits and monitor their wellbeing (e.g., sleep, nutrition, hydration, time to rest).
3. Integrate holistic, evidence-based strategies into clinical or pedagogical practice to support singers’ overall wellbeing.
4. Learn about the current research in the field and which fields we can borrow knowledge from (e.g., kinesiology, exercise science), continuing to foster interdisciplinary and comprehensive care.