To be heard: the best voice exercises

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

All great women possessed oratory and knew how to gain respect and the necessary impression in the first minutes of communication. Nowadays, more than ever, it is important to be able to use your voice, which, in fact, is endowed with tremendous power. Competent self-presentation, the ability to build communication is the key to success in any business.

Still from the movie "Bridget Jones's Diary"

Most of us don't even think about our voice as a tool for managing our lives and increasing personal effectiveness. And how often people do not like their own voice … The idea that the voice can be qualitatively changed, improved, seems more fantastic than practical.

The secrets of voice transformation and techniques that will help to become more charismatic are shared by the outstanding master of oratory, the actress of the Taganka theater, the leading teacher of REFORMA LAB - the laboratory of acting and oratory - Margarita Radzig.

For most people, it will be surprising to find out what sounds in a person not only and not so much the vocal apparatus. We can safely say that the whole body sounds.

How exactly our voice sounds and how much its natural beauty and uniqueness is revealed depends on the tone or hypertonicity of the muscles. It is no longer a secret for anyone that the state of the body reflects our mental state or state of mind, thus, muscle tension is of a psychosomatic nature. For example, clenched shoulders “show” our hyperresponsibility, suppressed fears “live” in an overstrained stomach, shackled legs and feet - this is a lack of self-confidence and a solid foundation in life.

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Such problems, coupled with physical methods of correction (yoga, Pilates, swimming, massage, etc.) are recommended to be dealt with with a good psychologist, if necessary.

Since this is not always possible and affordable, you can independently work on the clamps and voice, which can be especially important before speaking to a large audience, an important meeting, or negotiations.

Clamps in the body not only restrain our voice and movement, but also block the full blood flow to the brain, as a result, we begin to really think badly, "peck our nose", we get tired faster. Getting rid of muscle tension, we regain lightness and energy, free our natural voice, and get rid of internal psychological problems as well.

3 quick ways to relieve tension in the body:

1. Tighten the muscles of the whole body or the area to be relaxed very strongly, until shaking. Then sharply release the tension - the muscles will relax automatically and quite well. Do it several times.

2. Shake your muscles. This is a very simple but very working exercise that many actors and speakers use. Perform as little shaking as possible of the muscles of your whole body, as if you were plugging into a high-current outlet. The finer and more frequent the shaking, the stronger the effect will be.

The duration of the execution is 1-5 minutes. It helps a lot if you need to quickly cheer up, relieve tension, switch.

3. Stretching. This pleasant exercise is familiar to everyone. Do sweet cat stretches for the muscles of the whole body.

Stretch your arms and legs, try to stretch the muscles in the chest, abdomen. Performed in any quantity.

Voice opening exercises

1. One of the main and favorite exercises among people of speech professions is yawning. Healthy laryngeal muscles and a beautiful voice. Exercise helps keep these muscles from collapsing, avoids voice ailments, and works well for even the slightest discomfort in the throat area. Make consciously 8-10 good yawns, apart from the muscles of the larynx, this exercise will also relax the muscles of the jaw.

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2. Jaw clamp can be found in almost everyone - this is how our body reacts to stress and suppressed negative emotions. Over time, due to this clamp, the articulatory muscles suffer, the ability to take a free silent breath and clearly pronounce vowel sounds disappears. Speech can sound slurred and even provincial.

Exercise to train the articulatory muscles and release the lower jaw - work with a cork plug. It is necessary to bite such a cork and pronounce any texts: it can be tongue twisters or the text of a speech. The task of reading the text as if there is no traffic jam, you will have to work hard for this, but the result is worth it, this practice is considered one of the most effective in preparing for a speech or meeting.

3. Another common problem is improper breathing. Young children breathe through their belly - this is a healthy type of breathing. Due to stress and other reasons, healthy breathing is replaced with so-called female breathing (or upper breathing). With this type, the abdomen is almost not involved, the lungs are used only in the upper third - the area under the collarbones. This leads to a constant lack of oxygen and a decrease in activity and ability to work, and also deprives the voice of strength and support.

Inhale, and then exhale for a long time with the sound "Pffff", during which the stomach gradually draws in. When you feel the urge to inhale, relax your lower jaw, abdominal muscles, and all breathing muscles, allowing air to enter freely and silently through your nose. Your abdomen will rise, your diaphragm will lower - this will be a healthy, natural breath. Repeat about 10-20 times. An important condition is the absence of breathing problems.

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4. The chest is the place of support for our voice, there is a chest resonator. It is from here that the voice sounds the way nature has foreseen for each of us. To “awaken” your natural voice, slap your palm in the center of your chest, while nodding your head strongly (chin tends to your chest) and saying “yes, yes, yes, yes”. Duration of execution is 1-2 minutes.

And finally:

• During communication or performance, make sure that the stomach is not pinched, the body is free - this is the fundamental principle. Over time, following these simple principles will become a habit.
• Breathe freely, this will give the brain activity, and you - confidence in yourself and your voice.
• Feel your voice originating inside your chest.
• Avoid closed poses, and if it is necessary to strengthen contact with the interlocutor, you can use the "mirroring" technique - slowly take the same pose as his.
• Smile! A smile is a mimic construction that works in two directions: it gives a positive signal to our psyche and magically disposes the interlocutor.