The second Ask a Ninja question is all about techniques for projecting your voice in storytime.  Are you a singer or know a lot about public speaking? Add your ideas in the comments section.

Question:

Hi Ninjas! I have a question for the singers among you. Is there any way to teach storytime providers to improve their voice projection? I’m thinking particularly about the difference between your “head voice” and your “chest voice” (but I don’t have vocal instruction so maybe I have my terms wrong) and wondering if there are exercises to help people hear and feel the difference, but I’ll take any advice, especially if it comes with activities we can actually try together. Thanks!

And after a follow up by Michelle, for more clarification:

I’m thinking of staff…and speaking, not singing. When I hear someone straining to raise their voice and I know they could project better. As a kid In church choir I learned about “head” voice and “chest” voice but I don’t know how to teach this. But any techniques for breath support or projecting would be helpful!

Answers from July’s Featured Ninjas:

From Ingrid:
I don’t mean to brag or nothing, but I was a theatre major (Oh yes, I spelled it “re” instead of “er”. Deal with that!) in college. I’m also a classically trained musician. Or at least I was until I became a librarian. What I’m trying to say is, I have a majorly loud voice that can project. All it takes it some practice. You should check out the bajillion YouTube videos on how to project your voice without damaging your throat or losing your voice for the rest of the day.

Some tips from an ex-theatre dork:
1) Stand up straight. Good posture helps.
2) Drink lots of water, not sugary drinks or things with too much dairy or caffeine. Dairy makes lots of mucus, which is cool only if you’re into mucus.
3) Deep breaths. Don’t speak from your throat.
4) Don’t smoke. Just never smoke again.
5) Protect your throat during cold weather.
6) Rest your voice after lots of talking.
7) Know when you need a microphone. No shame in that. Better to use one than to screw up your voice.

The best tip I can give you is being aware of crowd control. I can make my voice pretty loud. I’m good at it. But if I have an overly excited storytime or a squirrelly group of uncooperative adults (the latter of which is more likely. Parents who talk during storytime are impossible to talk over), even my loud mouth voice will fall short. I have zero problem letting overly-chatty Cathies know when my voice is at maximum volume. I don’t try and talk over people who refuse to be quiet. Don’t try and shout over people who don’t want to listen. Public and Children’s Librarians do a lot of talking! We need to take good care of our voices.

From Michelle:

While voice projection is important for anyone doing public speaking, I do want to talk a little bit about styles. Some leaders have a louder presence, others have a softer one – both work. For example, my coworker and I have different styles, she has a bigger presence in the room, mine is a little bit more subtle. But we are both effective and engaging leaders. When you are a bit quieter of a presenter, you need to know effective crowd control. I have been known to stop reading a book and just wait for the room to get quiet. I know it seems old school, but it works (on the adults, I don’t worry about the kids noise level too much). Additionally, I often find parents like to park in the back of the room. I will always ask them to move closer. If you are quieter, you need to focus on creating a more intimate environment. Change the arrangement of the room if you need it, get creative, see what works, and use a microphone if you need it! Voice projection is important, but I think it is equally important to embrace your unique storytime style!

From Natasha:
The only thing I could add to any of this (and it might be piggy-backing on something already said) is if you are going for projection as a way to protect the voice, the two things I’ve been told and try to use myself
-warm up a little” by doing a little bit of humming the “mmmmm” sound (got that from an actor friend who also does the lip…wiggle?  The one that involves making a sound like a raspberry or Bronx cheer?  That one); and
-practice breathing from the diaphragm (breath in through the mouth, expand the belly instead of the chest, and then expel through the mouth, sucking the belly in as much as possible), not just in storytime, but as a regular relaxation technique.  I actually use it as a relaxation techniquie in storytime sometimes, having the kids and adults do it with me.

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Welcome to the first Ask a Storytime Ninja for our Featured July Ninjas! They did a fabulous job, but if you have anything to add, please do so in the comments!

Question:

I recently had a baby storytime that two grandparents attended without bringing a baby along with them. Never having had this happen, I wasn’t sure what to do. They pulled up chairs and sat in. However, because I tried to make sure they got something out of it, and was a bit flustered, the only actual baby got pretty restless, and the other caregiver seemed a bit puzzled.

Has this ever happened to you? How did/would you handle it? I hesitate to just ask them to leave, since they were genuinely interested, and since baby storytimes are largely for caregivers.

Answers:

From Natasha: Although it doesn’t happen often, I have had random people come in to storytime without a child before, just sitting to watch and enjoy being around the little ones.​  Provided they aren’t disruptive, my usual strategy is to just do storytime as usual, focusing on the families and including the watcher with any comments directed at the adults.  I figure the observer will either continue watching/participating or will leave if they realize it’s not what they thought.

I also usually try to chat with them if I can catch them, just to give them a quick spiel about what storytimes “do”, and to find out more about their interest so I can guide them towards times they can attend with a child or direct them towards volunteer opportunities if that’s appropriate.

From Michelle: I have had guests arrive in storytime unannounced as well. It can feel a little awkward when it happens. Ideally people would ask if they can observe and state their intentions before the storytime, but that usually doesn’t happen. During these times, I just continue with the storytime as planned. In this particular situation, I can see how it would feel even more awkward since it is a smaller crowd in the baby storytime. I think what I would have done in that situation, I would have maybe done some introductions. That way the guests could maybe establish why they are observing, and then the regular attendees wouldn’t feel as awkward. However, sometimes guests show up later. If that is the case, I always try and catch them at the end and talk to them a little bit about what the storytime is all about.

From Ingrid: I work for a juggernaut of a library system, and to deal with the largeness of our institution, the powers that be have created a lot of policies. Sometimes the policies feel overreaching and unnecessary, but, other times, they come in handy. The majority of our childless storytime attendees are library school students who need to observe a program in order to satisfy a component of their studies. According to our current policy (and I couldn’t tell you if anyone follows it or not), when these students want to attend a class, they need to make an appointment. This way, in the “If You See Something, Say Something” capital of the country, where many of us tend to skew on the side of suspicious, if a childless person is going to attend class, we know who they are before-hand. Their intentions are obvious and there are no surprises. I can’t say that I’ve seen a childless person attend a storytime who wasn’t a student, but I think a policy like this could cover people like the aforementioned grandparents. It could prevent any sort of awkward situation for you and the other storytime participants. As Youth Services librarians, we tend to be awfully protective of “our children” and I think this is a good thing. I think it’s great that we remain aware of who is in our classes and for what reasons. Policies like this are there to support us and to protect our patrons. As long as we’re all consistent, they can be a great help to us.

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This month’s ninjas have their work cut out for them as we already have a month’s worth of questions lined up for them to tackle. They are definitely up for the challenge!

Introducing July’s Featured Ninjas

Ingrid Abrams: I have been a public children’s librarian in NYC since 2008. Currently, I am a Children’s and YA Librarian for Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Youth Wing. Before I was a librarian, I did serious time as a nanny, daycare worker, and a children’s theatre director. My life as an urban librarian has made me pretty skilled with dealing with very large crowds! Of course, I love each child as the special snowflakes that they are, but I have to say that toddlers are my absolute favorites.

Twitter: @magpielibrarian

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