Short Courses & Events / Archive

It’s Personal: How Personality Impacts Perception and Symptoms of Voice Problems

Thursday 10th April 2025, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (London Time)

For over 25 years, researchers have investigated the intersection of personality traits and voice disorders, uncovering a predictive relationship between a person’s personality and their likelihood of experiencing certain voice issues. For instance, extraverts, who are naturally more talkative, often face problems like inflammation or nodules due to high vocal use. However, recent research aims to dig deeper, exploring whether there's more to this story than just "extraverts talk a lot, so they have voice problems."

This course takes you on an intriguing journey into the relationship between personality traits and voice fatigue, shedding light on how specific personality characteristics can predict the likelihood of experiencing voice disorders. Students will dive into cutting-edge research examining the correlation between the Big Five Personality traits—Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness—and various voice conditions.

Throughout the course, learners will gain a comprehensive understanding of how personality traits, especially extraversion, are linked to voice problems such as inflammation and nodules. They will explore current perspectives on personality science and the behaviours that underlie voice problems, providing a deeper insight into this complex relationship.

Join us to uncover the nuances of how our personalities can influence our vocal health and discover the latest findings that could revolutionize the way we understand and manage voice disorders.

🏷️ Price £20 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available

Lynn Maxfield

Lynn Maxfield is the director of the Utah Center for Vocology at the University of Utah where, in addition to research activities, he coordinates and teaches at the Summer Vocology Institute.

Sorry, this is an archived short course...

We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

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2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

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Thursday 4th December 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

(R)evolutionary Voice Training: harnessing human instinct to accelerate vocal transformation!

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Human beings and our vertebrate ancestors have been communicating via vocalization for millions of years – those sounds did not start as complex language, but as animal mimicry, acoustic cuing, and emotional primal sounds. Join Maddie Tarbox for this two hour session as she unpicks the repertoire of instinctive shortcuts that can lower cognitive load and accelerate vocal change!

Low Male Voices (LMVs): Development, Technique, and Repertoire
Tuesday 9th December 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Low Male Voices (LMVs): Development, Technique, and Repertoire

Dr Dann Mitton

Join Dr Dann Mitton for this two hour workshop where he explores the Development, Techniques, and Repertoire favoured for Low Male Voices (LMVs). Typically labelled as 'Bass' and 'Baritone', these classifications are used in classical music, choral settings, and vocal pedagogy to help determine suitable repertoire and vocal roles. In contemporary music, the distinctions are less rigid but still useful for understanding vocal range and timbre.