In these strange times of physical distancing that may be with us for a lot longer than we think, social gatherings are being minimized, leading to smaller groups of people together at the one time. Family occasions, such as weddings are immediately effected, where the Bride & Groom have to cut invitees significantly. With smaller weddings being the norm for a while, speeches at weddings may be delivered in smaller venues (even in homes) and therefore sound systems i.e. microphone/speakers might not be available to / for the speakers.
Over the years I’ve worked with many clients who have asked me to teach them to project their voice further. I’ve discovered that most people do know how to project their voice, the problem is often the speaker’s perception of how loudly (or quietly) they’re actually speaking…
Try this. Have someone you trust to stand in the back of a room while you speak in the front. When you stop, write down how you perceived your volume on a scale of 1-10. Then ask the listener to do the same. You’ll likely be surprised to find the listener perceived you as much quieter than you thought. Occasionally I work with someone with the opposite problem. They think they are speaking at a normal volume when in fact they’re speaking much louder. This same technique can help you gauge that too.
Most of the time, if you’re speaking in front of a group, you’ll have the aid of a microphone. But there are times when you need to project your voice without a microphone. I have a client who is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and his beliefs prohibit the use of a microphone to deliver his weekly sermon. Naturally, he speaks in front of a large group each week and his voice needs to be heard.
You too can learn to make your voice carry further and sound louder. It requires a little work, but it will save you from straining your vocal cords.
Here are 3 best practices you can incorporate today:
Breathe Properly
The way you breathe affects the way your voice comes out. After all, air flowing over your vocal cords is the reason you have a voice at all.
If you breathe shallowly, you will quickly run out of the air, and then your throat muscles tense up to try to squeeze the sound out. Your voice will sound strained and lack carrying power. It’s hard on your vocal cords, too.
When you take the time to fill your lungs, it’s as if your voice is riding on a supportive cushion of air, and your throat muscles can stay relaxed. Your voice will carry better and have a richer, more pleasing sound.
Most people only fill the top of their lungs when they breathe, but in fact, your lungs are larger at the bottom than at the top. To get a good breath, you need to fill your lungs all the way to the bottom. Ask any musician who plays the trumpet, tuba, or any other wind instrument and they will tell you that your waist and abdomen must move outward as you inhale and back in as you exhale. Your chest stays quiet.
If you’ve never done this before, imagine that you are filling your lungs from the bottom up, as if it were water instead of air. Place your hands on your abdomen. You should be able to feel and see your abdomen push out when you breathe properly. Keep your hands there to feel it deflate as you speak.
Articulate with Energy
You might not realize that how well you articulate your words impacts how far your voice carries. You have all the tools you need to articulate clearly; the jaw, the lips, and the tongue. But most people have rather lazy diction (including me!). You need to use these tools with energy to create clear, crisp consonants.
When you put energy into your muscles of articulation, your voice will lift up and away from your throat muscles and into your face. It actually moves into your cheeks bones and sinus cavities.
Your cheekbones act like the sounding board of a piano, and your sinus cavities (assuming you don’t have a cold) resonate like a big, open room. That means your voice will have more resonance and will project better to your listeners.
Think of how much energy it takes to run the length of a soccer field or basketball court. Clear articulation requires just as much energy; you’re simply using smaller muscles.
Don’t Push Your Voice Harder – Make it Bigger
Have you ever been in this situation: You’re trying to make an announcement, but the noise in the room is drowning you out. You ask for quiet, but no one hears you. So you raise your voice and then raise it again. It still doesn’t work. Someone finally whistles loudly and the noise stops so you can talk. But afterwards, your throat muscles tense up and you find yourself rubbing them and looking for a glass of water.
When you push your voice, you really don’t make yourself easier to hear. Instead, you make yourself hoarse and you might even damage your vocal cords.
Instead of pushing, imagine that the inside of your throat and mouth are large, as large as the room you’re speaking in. That will cause all the muscles around the inside of your throat to pull away, just as they do when you are yawning. The bigger space inside, the bigger the voice outside.
Source: Lisa B. Marshall – The Public Speaker