Cannot project my voice!

[lph]

This may be completely random, but we were talking about professional storytellers at home the other day, and my son said "yeah, mom, you could do that!" He meant to praise my skills at reading aloud to him - I try to vary my voice, project an atmosphere, that sort of thing.

And I suddenly remembered that I found reading aloud to him very physically tiring to begin with, when he was small. I'd read for 15-20 minutes and just feel like I was too exhausted to speak anymore, my ears would be ringing and my throat, stomach and lungs would just be tired. Probably old hat to any public speakers or singers out there, but I just realized for the first time that it is a strength and conditioning thing as well as technique.

[sfa]

Three things my Mom (a professional singer) taught me that she learned from her vocal coach: breathe from your gut, support your breath with your diaphragm, and open your throat like you do when you have to throw up. That last one is particularly graphic, but really helps you think about opening yourself up to let the voice out.

I did these exercises with my Girl Scouts last year when we were working on a theater badge, and even the normally very quiet kids could make themselves heard across the room without straining their voices.

Sarah

[PscyclePath]

What Trek420 and SFA said... Many years ago in ROTC we learned how to drill troops from the far side of the football practice field, so you learn to project your "command voice." Breathe from your gut, speak a little more slowly and clearly, and "broadcast."

Hey, it still works for me ;-)

[solobiker]

I am very soft spoken too. Ioften have to repeat myself and even then people often do not hear me. To me..when I am speaking at a "normal" level I feel as though I am shouting. My husband picks on me a lot saying that he sees my lips moving but does not hear anything. I have been trying harder but it is something I have to focus on. I will work on some of the above mentioned advice. Sorry to hijack this thread for a bit.

[snowroo]

I'm a speech path.

Sf is right. Volume is achieved by increasing subglottal pressure, which is the fancy way of saying supporting the breathe from your belly. Don't suck inyour gut. Relax it. Think of the little kids who wail and you can hear them from across town. Nice relaxed potty bellies. Stand tall, breath down, belly should move out as breath comes in.

Taking a big breath from your chest isn't as effective. You can get volume by increasing muscle tension at your vocal folds. This runs the risk of slamming the folds together (like clapping really hard -ouch). Like yelling. Or talking over loud music at a party. You go hoarse from doing this and over time can stay like that from little callouses that form.

The throat puke posture is affecting resonance. Makes a bigger space fore the sound to resonate. Makes for a fuller sound.

In general, to Increase volume, work on breath support. To work on clarity, speak at a slower rate, which will make it easier for your listeners to hear, discriminate and process your speech.

To get the hang of belly breathing, try it lying down. Lace your fingers over your belly and breath in. Your fingers should move.

[snowroo]

Sf is right. Volume is achieved by increasing subglottal pressure, which is the fancy way of saying supporting the breathe from your belly. Don't suck inyour gut. Relax it. Think of the little kids who wail and you can hear them from across down. Nice relaxed potty bellies. Stand tall, breath down, belly should move out as breath comes in.

Taking a big breath from your chest isn't as effective. You can get volume by increasing muscle tension at your vocal folds. This runs the risk of slamming the folds together (like clapping really hard -ouch). Like yelling. Or talking over loud music at a party. You go hoarse from doing this and over time can stay like that from little callouses that form.

The throat puke posture is affective resonance. Makes a bigger space for the sound to resonate. Makes for a fuller sound.

In general, to Increase volume, work on breath support. To work on clarity, speak at a slower rate, which will make it easier for your listeners to hear, discriminate and process your speech.

To get the hang of belly breathing, try it lying down. Lace your fingers over your belly and breath in. Your fingers should move.

[snowroo]

Sf is right. Volume is achieved by increasing subglottal pressure, which is the fancy way of saying supporting the breathe from your belly. Don't suck inyour gut. Relax it. Think of the little kids who wail and you can hear them from across down. Nice relaxed potty bellies. Stand tall, breath down, belly should move out as breath comes in.

Taking a big breath from your chest isn't as effective. You can get volume by increasing muscle tension at your vocal folds. This runs the risk of slamming the folds together (like clapping really hard -ouch). Like yelling. Or talking over loud music at a party. You go hoarse from doing this and over time can stay like that from little callouses that form.

The throat puke posture is affective resonance. Makes a bigger space for the sound to resonate. Makes for a fuller sound.

In general, to Increase volume, work on breath support. To work on clarity, speak at a slower rate, which will make it easier for your listeners to hear, discriminate and process your speech.

To get the hang of belly breathing, try it lying down. Lace your fingers over your belly and breath in. Your fingers should move.

[malkin]

A drama school voice teacher told us to imagine our voice coming from deep in the pelvis, then radiating up and out.

This image helps me keep more upright posture and keep my throat (etc.) relaxed.