How do I avoid straining my voice
April 17, 2012 7:20 PM Subscribe
How do I deal with voice strain?
I recently gave a seminar and found that by the end of it my voice was sore. It was only an hour long which doesn't seem like much. I might be holding too much tension in my throat muscles. What's the best way to prevent voice strain? Any exercises or techniques that you can recommend? I very much enjoy giving the seminar and would like to do more in the future so finding a solution would be really great.
I recently gave a seminar and found that by the end of it my voice was sore. It was only an hour long which doesn't seem like much. I might be holding too much tension in my throat muscles. What's the best way to prevent voice strain? Any exercises or techniques that you can recommend? I very much enjoy giving the seminar and would like to do more in the future so finding a solution would be really great.
The Voice Book has been recommended to me by a couple of my musically-inclined friends. It's a newer book -- perhaps your library has a copy?
posted by tamarack at 8:13 PM on April 17, 2012
posted by tamarack at 8:13 PM on April 17, 2012
- Warm up before you present. Google 'vocal warm up' and find a 10-minute sequence that you like. You might want to do some warming up in the car on the way to your seminars, or if you don't have the luxury of a private space beforehand, you can get away with humming quietly to yourself without people noticing.
- Practise doing a bit of your seminar to yourself in the mirror. What is your posture like? Posture is so important to vocal health. A common way of straining your voice is sticking your jaw out in an attempt to be louder. Think 'long back of the neck' to avoid this.
- Breathe low and deep. Your abdomen should move in and out as you breathe, your ribs should expand and your shoulders should stay put. There is a wealth of information out there for proper breathing technique. If you're having trouble breathing deeply enough, you can try lying in semi-supine and focusing on breathing with your abdominal muscles. You may also want to try exhaling slowly on a 'shh' sound until your lungs are empty, and then just relaxing and letting the air rush in. Breathing shouldn't be effortful.
- Speaking uses the whole body, so you may wish to do a physical warm up as well to ensure your body is loose enough to allow you to breathe effectively. There are millions of warm ups on the internet, but almost all will contain some variation of:
1. Legs shoulder-width apart. Breathe in slowly and deeply.
2. Let the air escape on a 'shh'/'whee' sound as you flop your head to between your knees.
4. Gradually bring your body back up, vertebra by vertebra, starting at the hips and finishing with your head.
3. Repeat.
Best of luck!
posted by lovedbymarylane at 5:31 AM on April 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
- Practise doing a bit of your seminar to yourself in the mirror. What is your posture like? Posture is so important to vocal health. A common way of straining your voice is sticking your jaw out in an attempt to be louder. Think 'long back of the neck' to avoid this.
- Breathe low and deep. Your abdomen should move in and out as you breathe, your ribs should expand and your shoulders should stay put. There is a wealth of information out there for proper breathing technique. If you're having trouble breathing deeply enough, you can try lying in semi-supine and focusing on breathing with your abdominal muscles. You may also want to try exhaling slowly on a 'shh' sound until your lungs are empty, and then just relaxing and letting the air rush in. Breathing shouldn't be effortful.
- Speaking uses the whole body, so you may wish to do a physical warm up as well to ensure your body is loose enough to allow you to breathe effectively. There are millions of warm ups on the internet, but almost all will contain some variation of:
1. Legs shoulder-width apart. Breathe in slowly and deeply.
2. Let the air escape on a 'shh'/'whee' sound as you flop your head to between your knees.
4. Gradually bring your body back up, vertebra by vertebra, starting at the hips and finishing with your head.
3. Repeat.
Best of luck!
posted by lovedbymarylane at 5:31 AM on April 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I generally agree with the advice given above. Most likely problems are posture, pace, tension (usually linked to posture) and breathing.
The best way to be taught good vocal technique is face to face. Most people find abdominal (which some people call diaphragmatic) breathing quite tricky to start with and it's must easier if someone can show you can tell when you've got it.
I think you would really benefit from a few sessions with a voice coach. That could be a speech and language therapist specialising in voice or someone who teaching actors or public speakers. Speech therapists tend to be able to explain things in a more anatomical/medical way whereas vocal coaches tend towards using more analogies and visualisation but the techniques will be very similar.
I applaud you for sorting this out before it becomes a problem - voice problems can be terribly difficult to fix once you've done damage.
posted by kadia_a at 9:34 AM on April 18, 2012
The best way to be taught good vocal technique is face to face. Most people find abdominal (which some people call diaphragmatic) breathing quite tricky to start with and it's must easier if someone can show you can tell when you've got it.
I think you would really benefit from a few sessions with a voice coach. That could be a speech and language therapist specialising in voice or someone who teaching actors or public speakers. Speech therapists tend to be able to explain things in a more anatomical/medical way whereas vocal coaches tend towards using more analogies and visualisation but the techniques will be very similar.
I applaud you for sorting this out before it becomes a problem - voice problems can be terribly difficult to fix once you've done damage.
posted by kadia_a at 9:34 AM on April 18, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks for the help everyone. I was worried but it turned out super well. I was fine after two hours straight, I had a total blast! Lovelymarylane, i used your suggestion of "long back in the neck" and diaphragm breathing (I've heard of this so many times but i keep forgetting it!).
posted by storybored at 7:53 PM on April 26, 2012
posted by storybored at 7:53 PM on April 26, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rabbitbookworm at 7:53 PM on April 17, 2012