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Many professionals who use their voice for a living complain that after a day’s work they feel the strain in their voice and sometimes have developed a sore throat. What can be done? As with everything else to do with the body, prevention is better than cure and what follows is a basic voice care routine that we recommend to everyone who finds themselves in frequent speaking situations.
- Maintain a high level of fluid intake – this literally lubricates all the parts connected to voice. Always have a good supply of water to hand when training, and remember to sip it at regular intervals.
- Always start the day with some sort of vocal warm-up. An athlete would never start running from home without doing stretches first. Singing in the car on the way is as good as any other warm-up!
- Standing in front of people generates some level of anxiety and this tends to make the throat constrict, therefore causing the first symptoms of strain. Try to make time for some physical ‘loosening up’ exercises (arm swings, head rotations) before you arrive. Take several deep breaths just before you begin to speak and give yourself opportunities to repeat at intervals throughout the day.
- Remember that speaking clearly has nothing to do with shouting – use facial muscles with energy to project your voice forward, rather than strain it by trying to increase volume.
- Be aware of tension in the jaw – this is a sure sign that voice strain will follow! The simplest way to counter this is to just drop the jaw for a second; you will feel the facial muscles relax and doing this a number of times may save you from real problems later.
- If you have strained your voice, the best remedy is to find space and time to completely relax the whole body. You should lie down in a warm room and drink plenty of warm water with lemon and honey. If you’ve caught it early enough, a half hour of this may be all you need and could save you a great deal of trouble later on.
- Remember that the best way to avoid voice strain is to keep the facial muscles relaxed; and the best way to relax those muscles at any time is to smile!
