Welcome to Vibrant Voice Technique, the online course
Learn a series of exercises using external vibration (yes, a vibrator!) to quickly and effectively enhance vocal resonance and reduce the muscle tension that leads to vocal fatigue.
Who is Vibrant Voice Technique for?
This technique is for anyone seeking to improve their vocal quality. Professional actors, singers and public speakers rely on their voices to make a living, but they aren’t the only people whose voices are an integral part of their life and work. Teachers, salespeople and others of us find ourselves speaking or singing loudly or for long periods of time. Having a strong, resilient voice can make all the difference in our ability to enjoy our lives and find success in our jobs.
"Vibrant Voice has mercifully provided an incredibly simple, efficient, and effective way to simultaneously relax tension while warming up the voice. My students excitedly share how much easier it is to navigate resonators and to shape the overall placement of their voices. The vibrator gives a kind of kinesthetic feedback that used to require the hands of a classmate or teacher. What used to be quite esoteric has been made so tangible and clear…thanks!"
John Patrick
Head of Voice & Speech, UNC Chapel Hill and Lead Teacher, Miller Voice Method
"Without exaggeration I can say that Vibrant Voice has absolutely changed my performative life! Where before I frequently lost or damaged my voice during the run of a show, now I have ease and vocal freedom. Not only did the vibration give me more resonance and vocal strength, it also has helped to release neck, jaw and shoulder tension that often contributed to my vocal fatigue. I use Vibrant Voice as part of ALL of my vocal warmups, and I recommend it to anyone who works with their voice. "
Ben Gorodetsky
Actor/Improviser, Edmonton, AB
"This technique is brilliant! My jaw in particular has been doing so much better since I've used the vibrator. Nothing else has worked for me up to now. It’s a real relief! Thank you so much, I am so glad I signed up!"
Sedera Halarla
Singer, Quebec City, QC
"I have been a teacher on tall ships, in the classroom, and outdoors. I am also a choral singer who, 12 years ago, began experiencing discomfort and strain while rehearsing for a performance and have never regained full use of my voice since. Medics and specialists could not find anything physically wrong and there ended their efforts to help me with my problem. Rest and time have been my only remedy. Two years ago the problem resurfaced again and nearly made it impossible for me to do my job. Vibrant Voice has given me a routine to warm up my voice as an athlete would warm up before a training session or a competition. As a result, recovery time of the discomfort resulting from a working day has significantly diminished. Thank you VVT for making it possible to continue in the line of work that I love, for speeding up recovery and for reducing stress associated my voice use!"
Dorothy Jones
Professional Dog Trainer, Victoria, BC
What is Vibrant Voice Technique?
Vibrant Voice Technique operates on the simple idea that using a vibrator to provide external stimulation can enhance the naturally occurring vibration of your voice, and release muscular tension that may diminish your vocal quality.
The Technique uses a small hand-held vibrator applied to points on the head, neck and shoulders coupled with specific movements and sounds that will help you achieve release and increase vocal resonance.
The goal is for you to have more sound with less work.
Vibrant Voice is more than just the idea of applying a vibrator near your voice box. It’s a whole technique – a series of exercises that target the specific muscles that have a tendency to become tense and reduce vocal quality, and the “sweet spots” that can help enhance vocal resonance.
The exercises of the Vibrant Voice Technique fall into four categories:
Reducing muscle tension
Learn individual exercises for shoulders, neck, chest, jaw, throat, and tongue release.
Stimulating vibration
You'll learn to relax your vocal cords themselves and find more freedom around your larynx.
Enhancing resonance
When you know how to direct your voice, you can make a more powerful sound with less work.
Energizing the articulators
Make clearer sounds with your lips, teeth, tongue, and soft palate for better understanding.
Course Structure
When you enroll you'll get immediate access to 27 short, actionable exercise videos that you can navigate at your own pace. Your instructors are David Ley, founder of Vibrant Voice Technique and Professor of Voice at the University of Alberta, and Elissa Weinzimmer, founder of Voice Body Connection.
From the skull to the tongue, from the lips to the larynx and more, get the tools to get a stronger voice. And yes, we’ll let you know which vibrator to use!
Meet your instructors
David Ley
David Ley is a Professor in the Drama Department at the University of Alberta where he teaches Voice and Speech, Dialects, and Acting. He founded Vibrant Voice Technique in 2011 to help a client, and has shared the practice with thousands of students since that time.
Elissa Weinzimmer
Elissa Weinzimmer is a vocal health educator and presence coach, and is the founder of Voice Body Connection. She has been teaching Vibrant Voice Technique since 2013, and also teaches the vibration exercises as part of her annual Release Your Voice class.
"I am an opera singer, student, and constant traveller that suffers from severe back and neck issues. I approached Vibrant Voice in the hopes that I could gently and effectively loosen my chronically tense muscles. I had been practicing self-massage techniques on my jaw, neck and shoulder for a long time, but had yet to deepen my understanding of how to effectively target the muscles used for singing. In the course, David and Elissa talked us through the specific muscles of the neck, sternum, jaw, and head that could cause vocal strain, fatigue, or be hindering peak performance due to stress. There was also a very interesting and surprisingly effective portion devoted to resonance, and how to use the massager to stimulate different types of resonance while singing. After a month of following the basic guidelines and exercises, I have seen real relief in my neck, and shoulders. "
Diana DiMauro
Opera Singer, Italy
"More than a year ago, I got to know Vibrant Voice Technique through Facebook. As a voice teacher/speech therapist, I was curious if this method would be a value in my work. Since I've been able to take the online workshop a few days ago, even MY throat has never been this relaxed. I also tried it on some clients. The effect is amazing! In less than 15 minutes, people are able to significantly voice more freely. I don't think it's a bit rash to say Vibrant Voice Technique will be a basic method in speech therapy in the near future…” "
Gert Leunen
Speech therapist/Voice teacher, Belgium
"Recently I had three hours of singing, one hour alone as a soloist and two hours with others singers. Nobody knew I had just learned the Vibrant Voice Technique, but they remarked to me that my voice was more brilliant, full, and they heard something like bells! I felt that it was easier to achieve pianissimo for many notes as well. "
Louise Gagnon
Family Doctor and Classical Singer, Montréal, QC
"One October, I woke up one morning and my voice was hoarse. I wasn’t sick, there was absolutely no reason for it. My family doctor referred me to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. I had the camera up my nose and down my throat. I had a chest x-ray and a CT scan to determine that there was nothing growing on my laryngeal nerve that extends from in your brain down into your chest. All was clear, thank God. I was then referred to an Ears, Nose and Throat Surgeon. His diagnosis was Paralysis of the Vocal Cord and his solution was to surgically implant a silicone wedge to force my vocal cord over to the other one. After thinking it over, I decided not to do this surgery as it seemed very invasive. My husband brought home an article in the Gateway newspaper (the Univ. of Alberta newspaper). The article was all about Professor David Ley and how he is treating stressed out vocal cords of actors and singers by massaging the throat with a vibrator. I am neither an actor nor a singer, but down to the “Love Boutique” I went and purchased a Lelo Siri vibrator. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE MIRACLE! After 8 months of appointments and assessments, within 5 minutes of massaging my vocal cords with this vibrator, I had my voice coming back! I highly recommend this approach to relieving strained vocal cords. It is painless, takes only a little time for maintenance when strained and is much less invasive than surgery. I am extremely grateful to you, Professor Ley, for giving me my voice back! "
Jamie Loebenberg
Translator, Edmonton, AB
Ready to release your tension?
Enrollment is $199
or 4 monthly payments of $59 USD
Want deeper training?
The training videos in this course are included in Release Your Voice, Voice Body Connection's most in-depth, intensive vocal health training. (No separate purchase necessary.) If you know you want to learn live with Elissa and David, interact with other students, and learn from guest instructors featuring a top team of speech pathologists, laryngologists, and singing experts, then check out Release Your Voice.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have a list of devices we suggest here. The device we were originally recommending was the LELO Siri original model but as it is no longer available, we have a number of other options listed.
Vibrant Voice is more than just the idea of applying a vibrator near your voice box. It’s a whole technique – a series of exercises that target the specific muscles that have a tendency to become tense and reduce vocal quality, and the “sweet spots” that can help enhance vocal resonance.
The exercises of the Vibrant Voice Technique fall into four categories: 1) reducing muscle tension, 2) stimulating vibration in and around the voice box, 3) enhancing resonance, and 4) energizing the articulators. If you’re curious to learn Vibrant Voice, we encourage you to reach out to one of our Official Instructors.
David developed this technique specifically as a tool for the professional voice user. Therefore, many of the people we work with are singers, actors, and public speakers looking to improve their vocal performance.
Though we work with professional voice users, we’ve also received positive feedback from everyday speakers experiencing relief from vocal fatigue and tension. Additionally, we’ve shared our work with a few speech language pathologists who are interested in exploring the use of the technique to help those suffering from more serious vocal issues. If you’re experiencing pain, abnormal fatigue, roughness or persistent hoarseness, or if you have any concern that something may be wrong with your voice, you should consult a medical voice specialist before pursuing this technique.
David came up with the idea to use external vocal vibration when working with a client who came to him a month after a case of laryngitis. This client hadn’t regained her ability to project her voice or speak for long without suffering vocal fatigue. Weeks earlier, she’d gone to see an otolaryngologist who looked at her vocal folds via stroboscopy and confirmed that there was nothing functionally wrong in her larynx. After observing the client and listening to her speak, David believed that much of her fatigue and hoarseness might be attributable to tension in the small muscles around the larynx that had overcompensated during the laryngitis. He hoped to use manual laryngeal massage as a way of addressing the lingering tension. Like many others though, she was uncomfortable with having her throat massaged or massaging it on her own. That’s when David got the idea to use a small personal massager to help... and Vibrant Voice Technique was born.
Our instructors have shared this technique with thousands of people, with overwhelmingly positive results. However, we cannot guarantee the technique’s efficacy for every individual, as outlined in our medical disclaimer below. If you have any safety concerns or if you have a pre-existing medical condition, you should consult your doctor before exploring Vibrant Voice Technique.
Medical Disclaimer
This site and the materials provided here by Vibrant Voice Technique may be considered experimental and are provided for information purposes only. Unless otherwise stated, the technique and any associated claims made on this site have not been evaluated by any medical studies, nor has the technique been approved to treat, cure or prevent any medical condition. We are not aware of any side-effects but no studies have been made in that regard. Except as otherwise noted herein, the materials provided on this site are provided “as is” by Vibrant Voice Technique, without any warranties or representations regarding the efficacy or safety of the technique. Any implied warranties or representations are limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.
We cannot assume any responsibility for any medical consequences if you choose to attempt the techniques described here. If you have a history of thrombosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, phlebitis, seizures, or if you have a heart condition or a pacemaker, you should consult your doctor before attempting this technique. The information on this site should not replace consultations with a medical professional and is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider with any personal medical or health questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read on this site. We recommend that you review the instruction manual associated with any particular device you wish to use, and heed the instructions and warnings provided by the supplier of the device.
We cannot assume any responsibility for any medical consequences if you choose to attempt the techniques described here. If you have a history of thrombosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, phlebitis, seizures, or if you have a heart condition or a pacemaker, you should consult your doctor before attempting this technique. The information on this site should not replace consultations with a medical professional and is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider with any personal medical or health questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read on this site. We recommend that you review the instruction manual associated with any particular device you wish to use, and heed the instructions and warnings provided by the supplier of the device.
This course is fully do-it-yourself. However if you want further support in learning Vibrant Voice Technique, you can contact David at [email protected] or enroll in Elissa's Release Your Voice course. Or you can contact one of our Official VVT Instructors.
You can keep the course as long as there's internet! We will never take the videos away from you.
