This multidisciplinary workshop is designed specifically for speech pathologists and voice and speech trainers. The interplay of body, breath, and voice is the subject of the workshop. Participants are invited to engage in, or observe, Fitzmaurice Voicework® (FV) exercises that help release excess muscular tensions that affect breathing, energy, resonance, individual expression, and full engagement in communication.
In their recent book, Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices (2nd ed.), UK speech therapist Christina Shewell and voice trainer Rockford Sansom note that "there is a two way connection…breathing affects phonation and laryngeal behaviour affects breathing patterns." (1) In their approach, "attention to breath will generally be the first part of the equation."

FV integrates modified yoga positions and other physical movements to foster flexible breathing to suit a wide range of communication demands. While yogic breathing is typically timed to coordinate with specific physical movements and poses, and can be useful for calming the nervous system, yoga uses very different breathing patterns from that of breathing for speaking. Speaking involves much greater spontaneity. Consequently, FV first introduces spontaneous or “free” breathing within modified yoga and other physical movements to allow exploration of a wide variety of breathing patterns. Next, FV introduces exercises for breath management (support) that integrate breath with muscular action in response to thought, feeling, or intention that result in vocalization. Exercises introduced can be modified for use in both in-person and virtual settings, as well as for small spaces and in seated positions.

This workshop reflects the joint statement(2) by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), and the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) to "collectively affirm the importance of interdisciplinary management of speakers and singers with voice disorders. This collaborative approach should ideally include some or all of the following professionals: (1) a laryngologist, (2) a speech-language pathologist with expertise in voice disorders, (3) a singing teacher, and/or (4) a speaking voice and speech trainer." 

1Shewell, C. and Sansom, R. Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices, 2nd ed. (2025).
2chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.asha.org/siteassets/governance/pava-joint-statement-characterizing-the-roles-of-voice-professionals.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoo07PeM4VLXkLHTr1g8vzeVjV7qJ3usoIRdj30H52BRUQZUIpGP