How to Develop a Better Speaking Voice

most of us live in a constant state of tension; always hurrying—because everyone else is hurrying —our minds tense, and our bodies tense even in apparent repose; and the voice being the chief means by which we tense individuals express ourselves, it is no wonder that the throat —the voice's channel way, and one of the most sensitive areas of the bo

The fallacy that one should “Take a Deep Breath” is at the root of much wrong breathing, and of many nervous complaints besides. The phrase ought never to have got into our language. |Deep breathing is natural breathing, and requires no physical effort on our part, only an effort of will.

Exhale and expand as before, and this time let out the breath on a steady HISS. Avoid tightening the lips or jaw, or the throat may tighten in sympathy, and a restricted throat means restricted tone. Try to keep the Hiss uniform in strength —for about fifteen mental counts. (The breath should last longer, now that the mouth-exit is smaller.)

the amount of breath we let in and out, and the manner in which we allow it to enter and exit, exactly determine the amount of voice that results and the quality of its sound, for Breath is Voice.

The only difference between one voice and another lies in the attitude of its owner, the amount of thought given to its use. Whether we think of it merely as a series of vague, automatic noises that come-of-themselves whenever we want to make known our thoughts and wants, or as a vital and miraculous means whereby we can express the best in ourselv

We need a Voice that is vital and colourful—calling for the buoyancy of full breath support.

The Conscious Mind is the Creative Mind, and while we talk it is kept working at full pressure forming our thoughts, choosing our words, arranging our sentences. Therefore our Voice machine must be left to the mercy of the subconscious: to it is relegated the way we breathe, the way we resonate and the whole process of delivery.

But whenever we breathe in order to speak, the breath instinctively enters the mouth, for three perfectly common sense reasons: the hole is bigger, the journey to the lungs is shorter, and the lips are already apart in anticipation of our next word. Also, nose-breathing tends to lower the soft palate—that is, the back of the roof of the mouth—partl

most states of tension concentrate them-selves around the centre of speech. In other words, the throat muscles around the voice box (or Adam's apple), the jaw above it, and the shoulders below it are the first things to tighten, and the last things to loosen. No wonder some people lose their voice after periods of stress.