Optimal Voice Health (Part 2)
Do you actively manage your voice to ensure it is healthy and in optimal condition?
In one of our previous tip: Optimal Voice Health (Part 1) we listed 7 things that trainers and facilitators can do to help support their voice.
Here a few more to keep you actively managing your voice:
- Practice saying longer and more complex words out-loud before you use them in your training sessions.
- Drink plenty of water to keep your vocal cords well hydrated.
- When you’re speaking to a big group practice opening your mouth just slightly wider than you naturally would. This will help your sound to reach further and will help your diction.
- Stand or sit up straight. Correct posture opens your airways and helps you project your voice.
- When delivering training imagine that you're speaking to the people at the back of the room. Adjust your voice volume accordingly, but don’t ever “raise you voice” or “yell” to achieve volume.
- Avoid dusty or smoky environments as these can play havoc on your voice.
- If your voice is tired or you're struggling with it, spend a little bit of extra time in the shower or inhale over a bowl of steam to help your voice. While you’re in the shower, cup your hand near the running water and gently breathe the steam in from your hand to lubricate your vocal chords and get the maximum benefit.
Pick a few of these tips and practice them each time you train (and when you're not training) and you'll be surprised just how well your voice starts to respond.
It's crucial that we support and look after our important "tool of the trade" to make sure that it keeps supporting us in the years to come. After all, it's the only voice we have...
Here are some great books that you can use to help with your voice use:
- Voice Power: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade, and Command Attention
- The Voice Book: Caring For, Protecting, and Improving Your Voice
