I gave talks to 3 different groups last month. The most often asked question was, “I often strained my voice after speaking for a while. How can I prevent that from happening?”
To prevent straining your voice, you need to take care of your voice Before-During-After:
Before: Don’t drink coffee, tea and milk. Coffee & tea takes the moisture off your body, which will also dry off your vocal folds (cords). Milk creates phlegm. Drink warm water.
During: Learn the correct way of breathing, i.e. to breathe with the support of your diaphragm, and power up your voice through resonance. In this way, you can talk as long as you want!
After: If you have lost your voice, do not talk, especially whisper (it adds more pressure on your vocal folds). Drink more water. Take a steam bath if possible. Or breathe in the vapour from a cup of hot water. It’ll help relieve the immediate surface wear-and-tear on the edges of your vocal folds.
Check out Top 8 Ways to Take Care of Your Voice to learn taking care of your voice on a daily basis.
The most effective way is still to learn the correct way of breathing and powering up your voice through resonance. Read more on Never Lose Your Voice Again.
