[Script]
Do you have a sore throat or lose your voice after speaking or talking for a couple of hours? Do you have to shout in a noisy environment or for a bigger crowd?
I often receive emails or phone-calls for inquiries on that. Some people even asked, “Do I have to live with that for my whole life? Can anything be done?”
I have a good news and a bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?
Let’s start from the good news. The good news is you don’t have to live with that for the rest of your life. You can learn how to speak for as long hours as you want without hurting your throat.
The reason most people, probably including you, lose their voice after talking for even a short period of time is that they don’t know how to increase their volume correctly. If they are asked, “Can you speak louder?” They usually end up shouting, “Yes, I can.” which is annoying and it’s the w rong way. The correct way should be, “Yes, I can.”
In the wrong way, you put too much pressure on your vocal folds, or as most people call the vocal cords. They are two mucous membranes lying in your voice box and they are the source of your voice. To lessen the pressure, two steps you need to follow. 1, you must power your voice with proper breathing and 2, use your body’s in-built amplifier to amplify your voice.
For step 1, proper breathing, we are referring to diaphragmatic breathing, breathe with the support of your diaphragm. It is the prerequisite for step 2 of amplifying your voice with your body’s amplifier. If you do not break the wrong habit of your breathing, you’ll never be able to amplify your voice and you’ll always lose your voice after talking for some time.
Once you’ve mastered diaphragmatic breathing, step 2 is to use your body’s amplifier to amplify your voice. Why do we use a microphone for a larger audience? It’s to amplify our voice. Have you ever realized that you have your own in-built voice amplifier that could help you be heard clearly without straining your vocal folds? You can achieve that through learning and practicing.
We haven’t mentioned the bad news. The bad news is it takes time and efforts, which most people don’t like, because they want to get results immediately and now. Only those who are committed to themselves will achieve the results they want. Are you willing to take the time and efforts? Or you’d rather live with it and with time it will grow into vocal abuse and cause permanent damage to your vocal folds? The choice is yours.
