Often lose your voice? And always at the wrong moment, right? Suddenly it’s a bit hoarse and then becomes crackly, and then you lose your voice completely.
Or maybe it’s a constant struggle for you. You do a lot of speaking, and your voice has become much more challenging for you to get out & for people to hear.
Losing your voice is painful.
And not just physically. It causes frustration and fatigue. You can lose your motivation. And you can certainly lose business and damage relationships.
I imagine you’re a bit frustrated with the advice out there. You’ve tried it all–humidifiers, stay hydrated, take a hot shower, take a cold shower, suck on a lozenge–all to no avail.
Because as much as these all may be good things (except for the lozenge!), they don’t work.
And the “resting your voice” advice? What the heck? Thanks for that.
Why am I losing my voice?
But none of this advice addresses why it’s happening in the first place.
You are probably using your voice and throat wrong when you vocalize. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You are most likely using a lot of tension in your throat when you speak. This tension causes inflammation and irritation in your vocal mechanism.
But I come with great tidings! I can show you how to stop using tension as you vocalize and use a relaxed, open voice that ends up sounding gorgeous. And you won’t lose your voice anymore!
How to stop losing your voice.
- Relax your vocal mechanism.
- Use abdominal breathing-not vertical breathing.
- Remember your voice, as is all sound, is air molecules vibrating.
- Let your vocalizations take a ride on your exhale.
- Don’t force your speech out.
- Stop throat clearing
- Pause so you can inhale for your following phrase or sentence.
Relax your vocal mechanism.
Your tongue is up too high in the back, causing much tension in your larynx and throat. One easy trick is to bring the back of your tongue down. You can practice pushing your tongue down with your finger or a spoon, but you’ll want to make “keeping your tongue down” a habit.
The easiest way is to take individual classes with me or take The Voice Spa video program.
Use abdominal breathing and air for speech.
Everywhere out there, “experts” say that your vocal cords make your voice. That’s not true. Not all of your sounds even use your vocal cords. Sound (as well as speech) is air molecules vibrating. Think of a trumpet or a saxophone. The air creates soundwaves that travel through the air and end up at your eardrums, which take that “beat” and eventually process it into meaningful language. It’s a miracle of nature.
So you spent your entire life thinking your vocal cords were doing all the heavy lifting, and you push with your throat as you’re talking. But to improve the sound of your voice and stop losing your voice, you must use abdominal breathing for speech.
Stop getting laryngitis.
Most cases of laryngitis happen because of stress in the vocal mechanism.
Of course, there are sometimes medical reasons, so if it lasts forever, see your doctor. I’m not a doctor. 🙂
You can take control of your voice. You don’t have to speak in your throat! It takes some training but you can learn to speak by letting your voice take a ride of the air.
Speech and voice are merely air molecules vibrating. Embrace that & you’ll find your way.
Thanks for the useful tips. We don’t learn these things in school (which is a shame), which hold us back when we start our careers. Your posts are very helpful and informative. Thanks 🙂
Thank you, Benji!
Woahh what a good article, I just loved the points that are mentioned in this article like how ,why I m losing my voice and then the solutions for it, the helpful tips given in this article, overall a very informative article 👍
I always lose my voice! I read this article about a week ago and I’m really glad I found it again. I’ve been trying to relax my throat and for the first time, I realize that I do have so much tension in there! It’s crazy. I have a crazy hectic schedule, I’m always busy so I guess that makes my muscles tense. And the really shocking thing is that I had no idea I was clearing my throat all the time. But I was talking about your article with a friend/colleague and I mentioned that I don’t clear my throat. And then I could tell by his face that he didn’t agree with me! So I made him tell me! He said I do it all the time! Now I’m becoming aware of it. And I’m annoying myself with it. Why do I do it before I say anything?
I’m proud of you for doing this work on your own Kathryn. It’s tough with a busy schedule. It’s tough without a busy schedule because we attach so much emotion to our communication skills. I’d love to help you! Let’s get you set up for a free consultation.
OMG! DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HELPS ME? Finally a work of God. I have followed your tips and they really helped me soothe my larynx and getting my voice back. Thank you so very much
Very useful , especially for the folks who work with the phone all day.