Voice Conservation in Conversation
Conversation tasks that surface where in a real day the voice is worked hardest, and rehearse the alternative out loud rather than listing it on a handout.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Use these after the student understands their voice plan, not as the introduction to it. The hour by hour card works well early because it produces the student's own list of high-demand moments, which the later cards can then target. Get a friend's attention across a noisy room is best acted out rather than described. Close with explain your voice plan to a partner as if they were your coach; teaching it is a good check that they own it. Fifteen minutes covers three or four cards.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student uses their voice technique on their own. Listen without reminding.Log as correct
- Visual reminderPoint to the technique card.Log as cued
- Verbal reminderSay a short reminder, such as 'Easy voice.'Log as cued
- ModelSay it yourself using the technique; the student copies, then tries the card again.Log as cued
Voice work belongs after an ENT examination. If hoarseness lasts or gets worse, stop and refer back to the physician.
Adjust it
Shorten each turn and go back to single words.
Move to longer turns, then conversation, then a noisier room.
Matching IEP goal
Student will use their voice technique in structured conversation in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual reminder.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten conversation tasks that find where in a real day the voice gets worked hardest and rehearse the alternative out loud: talk about your day and restart any sentence that feels effortful; describe a place where everybody talks loudly and plan what you would do differently; mark the hours you use your voice most; get a friend's attention across a noisy room without raising your voice; say where a glass of water fits in your morning. Persistent hoarseness needs an ENT examination before voice work.
What to listen for
Listen to the voice during the conversation itself, not just to the plan. A student who describes resting their voice while talking with strain has not connected the two. On the arm's length volume card, note how they describe the feeling after two minutes. Watch whether their plans are realistic: a quiet hour in the middle of a school day is not, but a rest during a practice break might be.
Carrying it home
Ask your teenager to walk you through their voice plan, and notice the moments at home where voices get raised, such as calling between rooms. Walking over instead of calling is an easy family change.
What's in this activity
- Talk for two minutes about your day. Whenever the voice starts to feel effortful, stop and start that sentence again more easily.
- Describe a place you go where everybody talks loudly. Plan out loud what you would do differently there.
- Tell me about a whole day, hour by hour, and mark the hours when you use your voice most.
- Explain how you would get a friend's attention across a noisy room without raising your voice.
- Talk about a practice, a rehearsal or a game you go to. Say where in it you could rest your voice instead.
- Describe your morning routine and say where a glass of water would actually fit into it.
- Have a conversation at the volume you would use at arm's length. Say how it feels after two minutes.
- Talk about a time your voice gave out. Say what you had been doing beforehand and what you did afterwards.
- Explain your voice plan to a partner as if they were your coach or your teacher.
- Describe what a quiet hour in your day would look like, and when you could realistically take one.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Fifth through twelfth grade, for voice and vocal hygiene goals.
- How is this different from a vocal hygiene handout?
- A handout lists what to do. These cards make the student say, out loud and about their own day, where the voice is used hardest and what they will do instead.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all ten cards play free with no login. An account adds session data and goal scoring.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.