The Importance of Proper Breathing
Nurturing a Healthy Voice
Online References & Other Useful Links
This web site has been created by Verena Tay for the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL), National University of Singapore.
The views expressed in these web pages are meant as general self-help advice and do not necessarily reflect the views of CDTL or NUS. If you encounter any difficulties, please consult a trained medical and/or voice professional immediately.
Last modified:
26 March 2003
Copyright © 2002-2003, Verena Tay
Using Your Voice Caring for Your Voice Your Environment Your Lifestyle
To improve the health of your voice and prevent voice disorders from developing, you may wish to consider the following pointers.
1. Use your breath flow to support your voice.
- Breathe properly, with the assistance of the entire trunk of your body.
- Beware of your posture: don't slouch when sitting/standing so that your air passages are aligned/not compressed and allow for free passage of breath.
- Keep your upper chest, shoulders, neck and throat relaxed when breathing in or when exhaling and letting sound out.
- Speak slowly; pause at natural phrase boundaries to breathe. Speaking within a natural breath cycle will enable you to finish the end of your thoughts without running out of breath before then.
2. Project your voice properly.
- Projecting is not the same as shouting/yelling. Shouting/yelling/straining to speak loudly will put unnecessary pressure on the voice box and should be avoided.
- Breathe properly. Keep your throat and neck relaxed.
- Instead of focusing on your throat, imagine that the sound originates from your abdomen/lower back and let your breath carry the sound out of your body in one continuous stream.
- Practise humming regularly. When humming, hum such that your lips and mouth area feel like they are buzzing. This humming exercise will help you to project the channel of sound through the front of your face and forwards towards the listener.
- Relax your jaw and tongue and unclench your teeth. A tight jaw/mouth will prevent you from articulating your words and your voice from coming out.
3. Be aware of how you speak.
- Stay within your comfortable vocal range. Don't force yourself to speak with too high or too low a voice for a prolonged period.
- Vary the tone/pitch of your voice. If you continually speak in a monotone, you may strain the part of the vocal apparatus that you keep using to maintain that monotone. Varying your tone/pitch will also help you sound more interesting to your listener.
- Use your breath to power your speech, not to create a breathy, seductive tone. A breathy tone may cause the vocal cords in your voice box to rub together, thereby promoting injury.
- Speak smoothly and avoid hard attacks on vowels.
- When giving a public speech, avoid vocally-harmful habits (e.g. clearing your throat, holding your breath, speaking quickly, speaking with insufficient breath, speaking in monotones, uttering harsh/low fillers like 'um', 'ahh'). Reduce such distracting habits. Learn effective public speaking techniques. Be well prepared for your presentation so that you can simply focus on good vocal production.
1. Always warm up your vocal apparatus.
- Just as an athlete warms up his/her muscles to prevent injury, so you (as a professional voice user) should warm up your voice before speaking (especially for an extended period and/or where there is no amplification) to preserve your vocal tract.
- To loosen your body, rotate your neck slowly and stretch your torso and limbs.
- To loosen the jaw, yawn and/or make chewing motions. Massage your face, especially the nexus of muscles at the hinge of your jaw.
- To moisten/clear your vocal tract, sigh or make swallowing motions. Do not cough and clear your throat by making rough sounds.
- To limber up your lips, jaw and soft palate, say tongue twisters/the alphabet/any short text, making sure that you articulate very carefully.
- Take a few quiet moments to focus on your breathing as well as to collect your thoughts before you speak.
2. Avoid frequent coughing and clearing your throat roughly.
- Frequent coughing and clearing your throat by making rough sounds forces the vocal cords in your voice box to rub against each other continuously, thereby promoting damage to the vocal tissue.
- Sometimes you clear your throat because you are dehydrated. Consequently, drink some water and/or swallow saliva when you feel you need to clear your throat.
- Instead of clearing your throat in a harsh manner, sigh as an alternative measure. Sighing will bring up a warm pocket of air that may soothe your throat.
3. Keep your vocal tract moist.
- To keep the mucus in your vocal passage at the right viscosity, drink at least 6-8 glasses of water or fruit juice per day, preferably warm or at room temperature. Drink more when you exercise heavily or when you are in a dry environment.
- Avoid drinking alcohol and caffeinated beverages (e.g. tea and coffee). Alcohol dehydrates the body and caffeinated beverages are unnecessary stimulants.
- When your throat is dry, swallow saliva or sigh as a stop-gap measure until you are able to drink water.
- Breathe through your nose, rather than your mouth. The nasal passages warm and filter air more effectively.
- Massage under your chin to increase the flow of saliva.
- To clear excess mucus and lubricate the vocal tract, use steam inhalations (sans additives) once or twice a day for up to a minute at a time.
4. Rest when you are tired or ill.
- Avoid speaking when you are tired or ill. Let your voice rest along with your body.
- Avoid speaking when you feel that your voice is strained.
- When you are sick (and even when you are well), arrange for quiet periods during the day when you can avoid talking and let your voice rest.
- Seek medical attention immediately if you experience vocal strain, discomfort and/or allergies in your vocal tract for more than a few days.
- When suffering from a sore throat, try not to use anaesthetic sprays/lozenges if possible. Such medication may prevent you from being aware of any further damage you may be doing to your throat. So rest and avoid using your voice until you are better: if you need to communicate something, speak softly or use sign language.
- When you have laryngitis, inhale steam to soothe and relax the larynx instead of drinking cough mixtures. Cough mixtures may soothe the back of the throat, but cannot reach the larynx (which is in your windpipe), as they are all swallowed down your oesophagus.
1. Avoid speaking in places/situations where it is hard for people to hear you.
- Avoid speaking/yelling continuously over long distances and outdoors. Move closer to your listener so that he/she can hear you without you yelling. Use a good vocal amplification system and/or learn to use good vocal projection techniques.
- Avoid speaking when it is noisy. Before you speak, reduce the background noise or wait until after the surrounding noise level has dropped. Face your listener and/or move closer to your listener. Develop non-vocal means to communicate/attract attention.
- Use a good vocal amplification system when addressing a large audience (e.g. in a large lecture hall). To help you further, learn good microphone techniques.
2. Beware of smoky/dusty/dry/cold places.
- Smoke and other aerial pollutants irritate your breathing and vocal apparatus. Keep your working and living environment clean and dust-free.
- Dry and cold conditions (even air-conditioning) dehydrate your body. To compensate, remember to use your breath to support your voice, drink more water, and avoid clearing your throat in a rough manner. If necessary, use humidifiers or vaporisers to increase the humidity. Reduce air conditioning.
- Cold constricts your throat. To help your voice, keep warm in air conditioning or cold climates.
1. Drink plenty of water to keep your vocal tract moist.
- Avoid drinking alcohol and caffeinated beverages (e.g. tea and coffee). Alcohol dehydrates the body and caffeinated beverages are unnecessary stimulants.
2. Watch what you eat.
- Eat a balanced diet to achieve/maintain optimal health.
- Spicy food may irritate the throat.
- Dairy products may increase phlegm.
- To prevent heartburn and a reflux of stomach acids into your vocal passage, avoid acidic/spicy foods, eating late at night, caffeine and overeating.
3. Give up smoking.
- Smoke and other aerial pollutants irritate your breathing and vocal apparatus. There are also other well-known health risks associated with smoking that can be reduced if you do not smoke/breathe in second-hand smoke.
4. Be aware of the medications you take and their effects on your body.
- Certain medications may dehydrate the body/vocal passage. Others may stimulate or sedate the body, respectively causing your vocal passages to constrict or making you feel lethargic.
- To compensate the drying effect of any medication, drink extra water.
5. Exercise regularly.
- Regular aerobic exercise improves your strength and cardiovascular fitness, reduces/maintains your weight and helps get rid of stress. Stretching and muscle toning exercises will keep your body limber. Consequently, such activities will enable you to breathe more deeply and better support your voice when you speak.
6. For women only:
- Take extra care of your voice in the few days before and at the start of your menstrual period. Changes in oestrogen levels may cause the vocal cords to swell.
For a full list of references to this section, please see Book & Other References and Online References.