Is your volume too high or too low? Is your pitch more shrill or full, monotonous or varied? Is your vocal quality more nasal or full, breathy or clear, lifeless or enthusiastic? Is your articulation hard to understand or crisp and articulated? Do you speak too slow or too quickly? Do you sound hesitant or deliberate?
Get louder as you are about to make an important point. Lower your voice when you are making an aside.
Ending questions on a higher pitch. Affirming a statement by ending on a lower pitch.
Try pausing after making an important point to give the listener a chance to absorb it.
For example, if you are saying something that makes you feel sad, then you might allow your voice to tremble if it comes naturally. However, do not try to force it.
Practice the speech several times with different variations. Record each attempt and compare them. Many people are uncomfortable hearing themselves on tape. This sounds different that the voice that resonates in your head, but is closer to the voice other people hear.
In addition, you can add some honey or apple cider vinegar to your glass of water to help clear up your throat. [4] X Expert Source Patrick MuñozVoice & Speech Coach Expert Interview. 12 November 2019.
Try putting a cork or plastic bottle cap between your back molars to hold your jaw in place. Continue this exercise to get it into your muscle memory until you don’t need to physically hold your jaw in place.
Try singing escalating scales in front of a mirror. Tilt your chin slightly down before you begin and focus on keeping it down even as the scales move up in range. Keeping your chin down gets rid of strain on your voice while giving you more power and control.
Press your hands to your chest and lift your chest higher than normal. Breathe in, and then exhale without moving your chest. As you exhale, sing “ahhh” on a single note. Hold the note for as long as possible. Half way through singing the note, press on your chest while imagining the air spinning in your mouth.
Work your way back up the keyboard until you find the note which marks the top of your range.
Once you can sustain the new note for a significant amount of time, you can move on to adding the next higher and lower notes to your range. Have patience and don’t rush this process. It is best to control the sound and be able to hit the note consistently.
Take a deep breath into your diaphragm and then try practicing breathing out and saying “ha” at the same time. This will help you to identify your diaphragm. You should feel the breath coming from your abdomen and out through your mouth as you say “ha. ” After you have mastered this, try speaking your lines using your diaphragmatic breath.
For example, if you are saying something that makes the character feel sad, then you might slow down the pace of your lines slightly. You might even allow your voice to register the emotion of sadness more dramatically by speaking with a bit of a trembling voice. Consider the appropriate emotion for each of your character’s lines to determine how your voice should sound when you speak them.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, take a breath into your abdomen. You should feel your abdomen expand as you breathe in. Then, release the breath slowly with a hissing sound. Try to keep your shoulders and neck relaxed as you breathe. [13] X Research source You can also place your hands on your abdomen as you breathe in. If your hands rise when you take in a breath, then you are breathing into your abdomen.
Allow your mouth to gently open as you draw your hands downward.
The air that doesn’t fit through the straw presses down on your vocal chords. This exercise is helpful for reducing swelling around the vocal chords.
The air trapped inside your mouth will close your vocal cords, allowing them to gently come together. [17] X Research source
This exercise activates the vibrations in your lips teeth and facial bones.
Repeat these exercises 10 times in a row.
Start slowly and progressively speed up your recitation of the phrases. Practice “P” words by reciting “Peter Piper picked a peck of piquant peppers. ” For “N” and “U” words, try, “You know New York. You need New York. You know you need unique New York. ” Give your tongue a workout by repeating, “Red leather, yellow leather” over and over.
Repeat this exercise a few times.
Repeat this exercise a few times per day.
Try setting aside 15 minutes to do vocal exercises when you wake up, or do them while you are getting ready for work or school. Then do them again before you go to bed, such as while you are making dinner or taking a bath.
