Many people ask me how they can add more vocal variety to their business presentations. There are two things to consider when talking about developing vocal range; your long term goals, and your short term goals.
Developing your voice so that it has a lot of flexibility and nuance is best accomplished with a coach over a period of time, however, there are some exercises you can do at home to begin to broaden your vocal range.
The voice begins with the breath. Many of us breathe from the clavicle region (the chest and shoulders). This is not the most efficient way to breath, and does not support vocal production that well. Breathing is an impulse, and when done naturally, the upper chest is relaxed, and the diaphragm is engaged. The diaphragm is the thick muscle under your rib cage:
Ever notice how much vocal power and nuance young children have? That’s because they are breathing naturally from there diaphragm. A relaxed diaphragm creates gentle pressure on the vocal chords thereby producing a grounded sound. If there is little stress in the diaphragm and chords, then it is easier for sound to resonate freely throughout the body, and create vocal variety. But let’s start with breathing… How can you learn (or re-learn) to breath effectively? Try lying on the ground and following these simple steps*:
1) Close your eyes. Begin to notice your breath moving in and out through your mouth. Give yourself this thought “The in-breath is pure relaxation; the out breath will happen naturally if I wait”.
2) At the bottom of your out-breath, wait, but don’t hold your breath, until you feel the need for a new breath.
3) Give in to the need to breathe.
By slowing your breath down, and teaching yourself to give in to the natural reflex of breathing (rather than the manipulated breath), you can learn to engage the diaphragm while you speak, and lower your speaking voice.
Once you have done the breathing exercise for a while, and you have the support of your diaphragm, you can begin to add sound. Add a gentle “huh” sound to the out-breath, making sure not to worry too much about the resulting sound. Notice how the sound feels in your body. Really enjoy the tactile nature of sound. Now expand the sound to a hum, still keeping a nice, relaxed, natural breathing pattern. Notice the sound moving in your chest, and register how it feels.
Next, without losing your breathing, make a higher pitched “hee” sound. Notice the sound moving through your cheeks. Really luxuriate in the sound.
Come to standing. Take out your presentation, and begin the first few sentences. Challenge yourself to keep you breathing relaxed, but also to allow the pitch to fluctuate freely as you speak. See if you notice any differences in your speaking style.
That’s my tip for the day! If you would like to do some private coaching in vocal training, call me at 866.898.7586, and we can set up a free, twenty minute consultation to talk further about your goals.
*Exercises from “Freeing the Natural Voice”, Kristin Linklater, Drama Publishers, 2006
