Are you having trouble projecting your voice?
You will get the standard diaphragmatic breathing instruction from a speech coach.
Your doctor might prescribe a gadget to help you strengthen your breathing muscles.
Everyone can agree that it’s important that you don’t strain your voice.
However, if you can’t get enough breath in your lungs, all the “how to project your voice” tips in the world are not going to help you!
Whether you are trying to communicate socially or professionally, if you can’t be heard you strain your voice to get louder.
It isn’t difficult to injure your vocal chords if you do this too very often!
Once you’ve hurt yourself, you will really have trouble being heard.
The article below is meant to help you speak with more volume.
Take a look at this information, and then let’s discuss something they don’t address.
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Speech Volume Do you ever struggle to make yourself heard? Do people ask you to repeat yourself? Is the dial for your speech volume turned down? You might have heard of ‘speaking from the belly’. This means using your abdominal muscles as bellows to propel air out of your lungs and past your voice-box, making air molecules vibrate, and creating sound. The strong abdominal muscles support the sound, which means you can project your voice forwards with power and volume. “Can you hear me over there?” The three most important factors affecting speech volume are the amount of air in your lungs, the way you use your belly muscles and your posture. The importance of breathing You need to breathe well in order to speak well, but if you are constantly stressed (and who isn’t these days?) you can easily develop bad breathing habits, which can cause problems with your voice. Millions of people breathe poorly, and therefore speak ineffectively. So are you a bad breather? Do you ever find yourself running out of breath towards the ends of sentences? Do you gasp, yawn or sigh regularly? Do you ever feel light-headed or develop a tight throat while speaking? Do your shoulders and/or your chest rise when you breathe in? If you recognize any of these symptoms you probably need help with your breathing technique. Some of the signs of stress-based breathing are more subtle, however. Breathing well is vital to create volume. If you don’t breathe well, you will probably try to use your throat muscles to power your voice, which is very ineffective and can result in vocal health problems. Deep down your body knows how to breathe well. Muscle tensions can affect your voice Muscle tensions can affect your posture and influence the way you speak. They can also hold your belly tight, restricting your ability to support your sound. You can only project your voice if you relax your abdominal muscles before using them as bellows. If they are tight and contracted, the bellows won’t work properly. Lots of people habitually hold their belly in – often without being aware of it until it is pointed out. If this is your habit you will not be able to use your voice effectively, and this may cause voice health problems. (article originally posted on SimplySpeaking) |
Straining your voice causes vocal health problems.
Nobody will argue with that fact.
So, just don’t do it. If you need to be heard over a crowd, use a bell, whistle or silverware on a glass!
What ever it takes! Just don’t strain your voice.
You won’t be heard and you will hurt yourself!
Staying safe is important while you address you volume issues.
The issue that the article didn’t address is fluid.
Tension definitely is a big issue when it comes to voice volume.
If you can relax and use your belly when you speak, you won’t have difficulty being heard in the back of the room.
However, if you are dealing with fluid in your lungs, you can relax until the cows come home and it won’t get you a bigger breath or more volume!
If you want to know how to project your voice, you’ll have to address the fluid in your lungs first!
Do you have fluid in your lungs?
The tell tale signs of fluid:
- Rattling sound with breathing
- Difficulty breathing if lying down flat
- Productive cough of clear mucous
Do you notice any of these symptoms?
I don’t want to alarm you, but if you do, you should be concerned for your health!
Never mind the volume of your voice!
Take care of the fluid in your voice before it takes care of you!
Why in the world would you have fluid in your lungs?
If you’ve done much reading around here, you know that heart failure is a progressive weakening of the heart muscle.
A weak heart can’t pump as much blood as it needs to and the excess volume backs up into the pulmonary artery and into your lungs!
Fluid in your lungs causes MUCH more damage than low voice volume!
Fluid in your lungs prevents you from absorbing oxygen the way you need to.
Oxygen is important for life let alone health and vitality!
The volume of your voice is the least of your concerns.
Please become a member of the Life Breath Club join the discussion to figure out what you need to do NOW!
If you are already a member, re-read your free ebook from the Life Breath Coach.
“Increase Your Oxygen” contains information that can transform your life!
Many blessings,
Carrie Tucker, RCP
The Life Breath Coach
Heart Failure Solutions
PS– Remember everyday:
- Relax and Release tension
- Exhale Slowly
- Be active in a way that adds Joy to your life