Voice Care Training for Workplaces: What Our Workshops Cover

Created byThe Eastside Speech Solutions team

Clinical experts

Ainsley PoulosPractice Director, Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)Alyssia TressosCertified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)

Voice care training teaches people who talk for a living how their voice works, what strains it at work and the simple daily habits that help keep it healthy. At Eastside, we run voice care workshops for teams of teachers, call centre staff, fitness instructors, presenters and anyone who spends long days on the phone or in online meetings.

This guide explains who voice care training suits, what a workshop covers, how it fits with work health and safety, and how to plan a session for your team.

What is voice care training?

Voice care training is practical education for people whose jobs depend on their voice. It covers how the voice is made, what puts it under strain at work, and the habits that help it last through a long day and a long career.

Speech Pathology Australia lists supporting people who use their voice professionally, such as teachers, singers and call centre workers, as part of a speech pathologist’s role. A workshop gives a whole team the same knowledge at once, so good habits become part of how the workplace runs. Healthy voice habits start early, and older students can learn about speech therapy for teenagers if voice or communication is a concern.

Why do people who talk for work need voice care?

Talking all day is physical work for the voice. A large study by Nelson Roy and colleagues surveyed more than 2,500 adults. It found that 57.7% of teachers had experienced a voice disorder at some point, compared with 28.8% of people in other jobs. At the time of the survey, 11% of teachers had a current voice problem, compared with 6.2% of others. The researchers described teaching as a high risk occupation for voice problems.

The Victorian Department of Education notes that voice strain is usually the result of a combination of factors. These include the way the voice is used, the physical environment, stress and tension, smoking, and health issues such as hay fever, reflux and sinus problems. Common signs are throat discomfort, hoarseness, changes in pitch, losing the voice and trouble projecting.

Who is voice care training for?

Our workshops suit any team that talks for a large part of the working day, including:

• teachers, lecturers and early childhood educators
• call centre and customer service staff
• fitness instructors and sports coaches
• trainers, presenters and sales teams
• staff who spend long hours on the phone or in online meetings
• faith and community leaders, singers and performers

If your team includes people who already have a sore or tired voice by the end of the week, a workshop is a good place to start.

What does a voice care workshop cover?

Every workshop is interactive. Your team learns by trying things, not just listening. The core topics are:

• Work health and safety and the voice. How voice care fits into your existing safety duties.
• What affects vocal health at work. Noise, distance, dry air, long shifts, posture, stress and illness.
• Reducing the impact of those factors. Practical changes to rooms, routines and equipment.
• Developing vocal fitness. Breathing, warm ups, cool downs and easy voice exercises.
• Dealing with a voice problem. The early warning signs and what to do next.

What practical habits does voice care training teach?

Many of the habits are simple once people know why they matter. healthdirect, for example, advises drinking plenty of water, avoiding smoke and resting the voice when it is sore. It also suggests avoiding whispering, because whispering can strain the voice more than normal speech.

In a workshop, we turn ideas like these into a plan for your setting. A teacher might use a hand signal to get attention instead of raising their voice. A call centre team might schedule short voice breaks between calls. Our guide to vocal warm ups for teachers and public speakers shows the kind of routine we teach.

How does a workshop at Eastside work?

Before the session, we ask who will attend, how they use their voices and what you would like covered. Your speech pathologist then shapes the workshop around your team’s real working day. Workshops can run at your workplace or online, so teams outside Sydney can join too.

During the session, staff try warm ups, practise projecting without pushing and talk through the situations that tire their voices most. Your team leaves with practical habits to start the next day and a clear idea of when to seek help.

Voice care workshops

How does voice care fit into work health and safety?

Employers have a duty to manage risks to health and safety at work, and heavy voice use can be one of them. The Victorian Department of Education’s voice care policy, for example, asks principals to identify and assess tasks that could put voice health at risk, record them in the school’s risk register and put measures in place to reduce them. Staff are asked to take reasonable care with their voices and report voice problems.

What changes can a workplace make?

Small changes to the setting often take pressure off voices across a whole team. Ideas we often talk through include:

• cutting background noise where possible, such as closing windows next to busy roads
• using a microphone or voice amplifier for large rooms, outdoor classes and fitness sessions
• building short quiet breaks into long phone shifts or teaching blocks
• keeping water within reach and paying attention to dry, air conditioned rooms
• using visual signals, whistles or bells to get attention across a space

Voice care training is one practical way to act on that kind of duty. It helps staff spot risks early and gives managers ideas for changes to rooms, rosters and equipment.

What if someone already has a voice problem?

A workshop teaches prevention and early signs, but it is not a substitute for individual care. Our guide to a hoarse voice after teaching and our article on vocal strain at work explain common patterns in more detail.

When should someone see a GP or speech pathologist?

healthdirect advises seeing a doctor if voice symptoms continue for more than 10 to 14 days or keep coming back. Other signs to take seriously are a voice that tires early in the day, pain when speaking or a voice that no longer reaches the back of the room. Anyone with trouble breathing should seek medical help straight away.

A speech pathologist can then assess the voice and teach exercises one to one. Individual sessions may be claimed through Medicare with a GP management plan, or through private health insurance, and we claim on the spot with HICAPS.

Voice therapy for adults

How do I plan voice care training for my team?

Use the planner above to note who would attend, what makes voice work hard in your workplace and the topics you would like covered. Then send those notes to us through our enquiry form or call us. We will suggest a format and talk through timing that suits your rosters.

You can read more about the service on our voice care workshops page, or browse our voice care and vocal hygiene guide to share with staff before the session. Our speech pathologists work from our clinic in Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and run sessions online for teams anywhere in Australia.