Warm up your voice!

You are probably asking yourself : "Why should I warm up my voice? And how?"

The communication expert and speaker Julian Treasure states: "The human voice is an instrument that we all play."

Doesn´t it make sense to tune your instrument before you play?

If you have something important to say and you want your voice to sound better, last longer and recover faster than a non warmed up voice, warm it up.

 

Here is a set of 6 warm up exercises for a more expressive voice that all speakers at alugha do before each audio recording:

 

#1 - Yawning

Yawning is an absolute basic exercise. Just 3 to 5 "yawners" help to relax your voice in an uncomplicated way. As you breathe in raise your arms up high and exhale as you bring them back down. 

This is Morgan Freeman´s favorite warm up exercise!!

#2 - The Grounding

In this exercise you rock back and forth on your toes and say "aaaah." Like all other exercises it looks funny, but it is worth it to get your voice going.

#3 - Facial exercise

Pull all of your facial muscles together and pucker your lips; your small face. Now you do the opposite: Widely open your mouth and eyes: your big face. You can repeat this exercise 3 - 4 times.

#4 - Lawn Sprinkler

As long as possible, make a "brrrr" sound like a horse or Donald Duck or like a lawn sprinkler...move your head around as you wish.

#5 - The exaggerated "La"

Let your tongue jump on the roof of your mouth like a trampoline and make loud "La,la…"-sounds to loosen your jaw and to exercise your tongue.

#6 - The roller coaster

Breathe in normally and hum while exhaling. Hum your voice up and down and back again. Your voice will gain bandwidth. 

Here are some tips for a powerful voice: 

• Drink a lot: Warm teas or warm water are best. Make sure your beverage is at room temperature. Cold drinks make your voice cramp up. Do not drink milk before giving an important speech. It will coat your throat and make it difficult to oust air. Even drinking black tea or coffee can also be detrimental because it causes the mucus membranes to dry out.    
• Coughing instead of clearing your throat: Refrain from clearing your throat.  For your vocal chords it is like rubbing two pieces of sandpaper against each other. It causes the mucus to be removed from your vocal chords without reproducing. If you have the feeling that you have a lump in your throat, you can cough heartily or even better hum the lump away.
• Sucking candies : Sucking candies however stimulates salivation and is a good voice-doping for lengthy speakers. 

If you have something important to say, warm up your voice and use our tips!! (Are you an actor, speaker, YouTuber or just a plain blabbermouth and you are familiar with this topic? Please leave a comment and tell us how you warm up your voice! Or do you need more information, tips or suggestions? Just let us know, we would love to help you!)

#alugha

#everyone's language