How to Breathe New Life into your Voice and Develop Healthy Voice Habits

You won't be able to speak well, let alone sing, unless you recognize your natural voice and learn how to love it, free it and take great care of it.

This brief, easy-to-digest article about how to develop healthy voice habits is devoted not only to those who dream of becoming a vocalist or a public speaker, but also to everyone who would like to use his/her voice effectively in everyday life.

Ready? Let's start!

First and foremost, in order to free your voice and develop healthy speaking or singing habits, you have to find your primal sound. It is, in fact, the sound you utter involuntarily when you laugh, cry or become startled, sad or surprised. This sound is the unique natural voice you were born with, just as your face and body are yours and yours alone.

Children probably never wonder why they can cry, laugh or talk. They just let it out. As an adult, it could be difficult to trust what will happen if you let your primal sound out, but that is exactly what you must explore and experiment. Oren Brown, a famous singing teacher, writes that each individual has his or her own voice print - as distinctive as one's fingerprint. You should be aware of how special you are, how wonderful it is to be able to release your voice the way it feels and sounds like, without restraining it or imitating any other voice.

Now listen to your primal sound and find out who you are!

• First, just say "huh!" as if you were surprised. Next, try "uh huh" as in an expression of agreement. Then try "huh-huh" as in a laugh.
• Prolong the "huh" and let the sound slide up and down freely. You don't have to make it tuneful. This is not a singing practice. Just let it go naturally.
• If possible, record yourself and listen to it.

So do you think you use your primal sound as your speaking voice? Do you even recognize it? If not, try to reconnect to it now, as primal sound is the most fundamental essence of healthy speaking habits.

• Make sure that you breathe through your nose, NOT your mouth.
• Don't make an effort to draw, pull or suck the air in. Don't take huge, extremely deep breaths. Just imagine your throat as a glass tube. All you have to do is relax and keep your throat open, and the air will flow in naturally.
• Breathe into your chest and direct the air lower and lower. The point to aim is right below your navel.
• If you do it right, your midsection, NOT your chest, should expand as you inhale, and contract as you exhale.

By using this method of breathing, you will be able to speak with a fuller and more dynamic voice. It also relaxes your entire body, lowers your blood pressure and mollifies your nerves so that you are more likely to remain calm in volatile situations. The next time tension begins to creep in, use this breathing technique you've just learned.

Your tongue and jaw are served by a single nerve stem. The base of your tongue is attached to the hyoid bone (a U-shaped bone at the root of the tongue in humans and animals) from which your larynx (hollow organ in the throat holding the vocal cords) is suspended. A tense jaw, therefore, can obstruct the free movement of your vocal folds and stop you from releasing your voice smoothly.

Do you know that you actually speak with your whole body, not just your throat and mouth? True, you vocal cords are in your throat. But in fact, voice production also depends on the surrounding muscles. When your neck and shoulders are tense, it can throw the inner adjustment of your vocal cords out of balance.

• Sit in a comfortable, erect position, either on the floor or a chair. Let your head fall forward on your chest. Then let it swing slowly to your left shoulder. Keep it hanging loosely like that for a few seconds as if falling asleep. Bring your head back to an erect position, then repeat the whole thing, only this time let it swing to your right shoulder. Bring your neck to an erect position once more and let it fall back with your mouth dropping open. With your head hanging back, move it gently from side to side. Your head should rest flexibly on your spine like a doll's head balancing on a stick.
• Massage the right side of your neck with your left hand. Then reverse, with your right hand massaging the left side.
• One great and easy way to relax your whole body is to stand and stretch, hands over your head. Swing loosely and slowly to the left and right, backward and forward.
• If you include weights in your exercise program, try to do it moderately. Although lifting weights can build and tone up your muscles, doing it excessively tends to make your neck and shoulders become tense.

Your vocal cords, unlike some other parts of your body, are irreplaceable. Once you ruin them, it will be extremely difficult to repair them. Its longevity cannot be simply extended by a bypass surgery. Its quality cannot be upgraded in five minutes like what you do to your computer.

So how can you keep your vocal cords healthy and user-friendly?

• Rest! Do it as much as you can. Exhaustion can make you forget about utilizing energy from your body and start speaking using muscles from only the neck up. As a result, you strain your neck and weaken your voice. Worse than that, when your body is sleep-deprived, it tends to lose its ability to resist colds and other respiratory ailments.
• Drink a lot of water. Always think of your voice as a plant. If you don't water it enough, it gets dry and wobbly. Dehydration is bad for your body and fatigues your entire vocal system. Ever feel like there's a dying frog in your throat? What's the solution? Just drink plenty of water.
• Limit your intake of caffeinated drinks and alcohol. And it's not just coffee. Caffeine, in fact, comes in various forms such as chocolate, tea, soda, and diet pills. All these products and alcohol can dry you out, and trigger unpredictable fluctuations in energy levels, which makes it hard for you to control your voice with consistency.
• Dairy products should also be taken moderately, for they tend to be mucus-producing. A lot of singers won't touch dairy products at all; they say that it "muddies up" their tone.
• Try not to yell. It is understandable why people are tempted to shout when they're upset or excited; sometimes you just need to let your emotions out. But imagine how badly it can strain your delicate vocal cords. Have you ever screamed so much at a football game and can't talk at all the next day?
• Do not whisper. Believe it or not, whispering is even worse than yelling. Renee Grant-Williams, a professional voice coach, writes that whispering is the worst thing you can do. Pressure from prolonged whispering irritates and inflames the vocal cords.