Do the Daily Drill. If you want someone in it with you, that’s the coaching.
I’m Drew Hanson. I have spasmodic dysphonia. The free drills are how most people find me. Private coaching is the next step when you want a plan and a live session, not another video to save for later.
The Daily Drill
Follow-along voice work for spasmodic dysphonia and muscle tension dysphonia. Warmups, straw work, goog / wee / me-me / nim-nim, tongue tension, vowels, attack days.
Watch it here. This player follows the channel — new video goes up, it shows up. No extra Facebook link required. Some days the voice cooperates. Some days it doesn’t and we still run the drill. If you’re new, start with the beginner session on the channel. Don’t chase volume.
YouTube · Instagram · Facebook · Patreon · Podcast: search “Spasmodic Dysphonia Exercises”
Private coaching
$100 per half hour
Live session over a video link. We practice. We mark where the voice breaks. You leave with a simple plan for the week so you’re not reconstructing the hour from memory.
- Single session: $100 per half hour
- 5-session pack: $500. You get 6 sessions.
- 10-session pack: $1000. You get 12 sessions.
- Live over a video link. Not tied to one app.
The story
I first started noticing the symptoms in late 1998. It was the same stretch as a bully boss, serious stress and anxiety at work, and a lot of vocal abuse on the radio. I was screaming at the top of my lungs every night. That was the job.
It took forever to get a proper diagnosis. First they treated me for allergies and a deviated septum because of the drainage, the thick mucus, and the inflamed cords. Doctor after doctor. Scan after scan. The name finally landed in early 2000: spasmodic dysphonia.
Before that I hid it. Badly. Alcohol relaxed the cords and the nervous system enough to get through a show. That was the workaround. It was not a solution.
When I heard about Botox I thought I could live a normal life and salvage the career. The first shot immobilized my voice. Completely. I got pulled off the air. I had to reveal the condition. At the end of the year I was terminated.
I would never do Botox again.
What followed was a long search for treatment without another needle in the cords. It was not pretty and it was not linear. Acupuncture. Hypnosis. An adult toy used on the larynx — right where the vocal cords sit — as one more way to work that spot. I was not picky. If it wasn’t Botox and it might help the tissue do its job, I tried it.
I pulled from a lot of places. Some of it was built for people with spasmodic dysphonia. Some of it was not designed for this at all — instructors, philosophers, voice work aimed at somebody else — and it still helped. The useful test was never “was this made for SD.” It was “does my voice work better after I do it.” No single trick fixed this. The ratio changed because I kept what worked and dropped what didn’t.
People ask how I sound cured.
I’m not.
I still have bad days with spasmodic dysphonia. I just have more good days than bad now, because of the exercises.
I still host live events. The voice has to work in a real room, not just on a good recording day. That is why the Daily Drill exists, and that is why I do private coaching.
I am not a doctor. I am not a speech-language pathologist. I am not a licensed therapist. I have this condition. I do this work. I’ll do it with you. Keep your ENT. Keep your SLP. This does not replace them.
Book
Email Drew@DJDrewHanson.com or send this. Tell me if you want a single half hour or a pack.