Shout. Shout. Let it all out.

The room was a garden of weird noises. Strange, unworldly. Ethereal. The sound of spirits bemoaning their situation. Prolonged "ah's", in a naked, syncopated manner.

"Louder," the woman ordered.

The man complied, dropped his jaw, and sent forth a long, hideous moan.

"Good," the woman said and the man was happy.

I know all this to be true.

I was there.

I was the man and this was day 1 of my second bout of LSVT LOUD voice therapy.

LSVT LOUD improves vocal loudness by stimulating the muscles of the voice box (larynx) and speech mechanism through a systematic hierarchy of exercises. Focused on a single goal “speak LOUD!” – the treatment improves respiratory, laryngeal and articulatory function to maximize speech intelligibility. The treatment does not train people for shouting or yelling; rather, LSVT LOUD uses loudness training to bring the voice to an improved, healthy vocal loudness with no strainn.

It is an intensive 16 day course of making noises, loudly. I thought I was yelling throughout the session but, as shown to me by technology , my voice was well below the the normal decibel level for conversation. LSVT LOUD is designed to bring your voice back to good standing on the decibel scale. I tried it once before and, eureka! it worked but, sadly, I didn't take it seriously and the gains I made faded to black. Fortunately, my therapist is giving me a second chance and this time, I will be an enthusiastic, committed participant.

I will make myself heard.

I am not much of a talker at the best of times. I hate small talk, but I also like to be heard when I have something to say.

So, now, if you will excuse me, I have to go and make some more noises.