In the world of yoga teaching, your voice is your most powerful tool. It's not just about the words you say, but how you say them. A clear, confident voice can transform your teaching, helping you connect more deeply with your students and guide them more effectively through their practice.

But have you ever felt like you’re in the middle of a sentence and have no… idea… where… it is… going? 🫠

Or go to say something and go completely blank on a simple word? #inhale…outhale??? 🤷‍♀️

Or get a bad case of verbal diarrhea and massively overtalk and overshare?🫢

Ever feel like your throat gets tight, your tongue gets tired and your voice comes out sounding high pitched or quiet?😬

These are all all signs of nerves and the good news is it can be fixed!

Our voice is a living expression of our basic vibration. Meaning… if our energy is off, then this will show up in our voice. If we lack confidence it sounds whiney, if we lack feeling it sounds monotone, if our body is tight it sounds constricted.

So how do we work with our nerves to bring back clarity and confidence?

🧘‍♀️ Warm Up Your Instrument

Before teaching; sing, chant, or do vocal warm ups such as ‘brrrr’ lip rolls on a long exhale or  ascending/descending aaaaahhhhh ooooohhh like an ambulance. 

(I recommend doing these in the car so you don’t get too many funny looks!)

In the same way that you expect yourself to do an Upward facing bow before doing cat/cows and sun sals, you can’t expect to teach a 60 minute class before getting your voice warm!

🧘‍♀️ Get Clear on Your Intention
I remember my University professor used to get us to practice just writing out our introductions for essays, not the whole essay. The idea here is once you’re clear on your intention and intro- the rest will naturally follow. Likewise, if you speak out loud your introduction to your class the rest will naturally fall into place. This is also helpful because often we are the most nervous in the beginning so it’s useful to be familiar with where you're going so you feel comfortable.

Then simply just have a concept of your middle and end and keep the message SIMPLE. 

🧘‍♀️ Less is More
I remember when I was studying music, a composer asked me ‘How can you make a note louder when it is already at the loudest possible volume?’ The answer was… have silence before and after. 

Likewise, our words will be more impactful if we give our students a lot of silence and space before and after each comment. This also allows them to integrate, assimilate and process their experience and create space for your next words.

When in doubt and you just feel like you’re filling space…ask yourself ‘Is what I am going to say of more value than a moment of silence?” 

🧘‍♀️ Use Punctuation
When you are speaking, allow spaces for pauses (commas) and stops (full stops.) Take at least a breath for each comma and 3 full breaths after every full stop. This 

And never NEVER finish with your voice going up as if there were a question mark. (It lacks credibility.)

🧘‍♀️ Thank Your Nerves
Nerves are just energy and they just show you care! This is a good thing! You wouldn’t want to be apathetic and blase. Really, nerves are essentially the very same thing as excitement, the only difference is excitement is a belief in a positive outcome whereas nerves focus on the negative. So thank your nerves for showing up to help you be present, focused and alert, remember that it is GOOD to care and switch your mindset around to focus on a positive outcome. 

🧘‍♀️ Speak From The Heart
Whilst this might sound all warm and fuzzy, I literally mean project from your chest rather than from your nose. This will make your voice sound more resonant, warm, loud and clear.

You know those teachers that sound a bit annoying, faint and whiney? That's because they're speaking from their nose.

I find it helpful to place my hand on my heart whilst speaking and breathe right down into my diaphragm to help me connect deeper down into my body. 

🧘‍♀️ Speak Authentically
You do not need to put on a ‘Yoga voice’ or change who you are. Everyone (even Fran Drescher) has the perfect voice to convey their message to teach yoga.

You just need to get out of your head, into your body and convey YOUR message. 

I hope you found the above tips helpful. Ready to find your voice and take your teaching to the next level? Join The Yoga Teacher Tune Up and transform your practice today.

YOGA TEACHER TUNE UP MASTERMIND