Ways to Improve Your Voice

Expression clearly. Speaking loudly and clearly is essential for stage actors. Make sure you speak loud enough that everyone can hear your lines, even if they’re sitting in the last row. However, it is important that you use your diaphragm to speak, not scream. Your throat can hurt and lead to loss of voice when you scream. ^[11]

• Take a deep breath into your diaphragm and then try to practice exhaling and saying “ha” at the same time. This will help you identify the diaphragm. When you say “ha” you should feel the air moving down your belly and out of your mouth. After mastering the practice, try expressing your lines with diaphragmatic breathing.

Pronounce the dialogue. Clear dialogue is very important for a good voice in acting. Make sure you’re pronouncing every word of your dialogue so people understand what you’re saying. Keep your mouth wide open when speaking to make sure you’re speaking as clearly as possible. This will help you express your lines better. ^[12]

Use emotions to highlight dialogue. Expressing emotions is also an important part of delivering better dialogue. ^[13] To emote, try to think about what your character’s emotions should look like.

• For example, if you have a sad character in your story line, slow down your lines slowly. To add drama, you can use a vibrato to convey sadness in the story.
• Consider the appropriate dialogue emotions for each character to choose the right voice when expressing.

Current voice analysis. Record your speech or ask a friend to listen and evaluate your voice. You should evaluate the volume, timbre, pronunciation, quality, and speed of your voice to determine where you need to improve. ^[14]

• Is your volume too high or too low?
• Is your timbre a thin voice or a thick voice, monotonous or varied?
• Is your vocal quality in favor of a nasal voice or a thick voice, a voice full of air or clear, emotionless or expressive?
• Is your pronunciation confusing or fluent and clear?
• Do you speak too slow or too fast? Are you hesitant or cautious?

Adjust your voice volume. Always speak loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. However, increasing or decreasing the volume of your voice will help you add emphasis or tie together different parts of your speech. ^[15]

• Speak louder when you want to emphasize an important point.
• Lower your voice when you want to skip an idea.

Use timbre to make an impression. A rather monotonous voice won’t draw people’s attention to you. Therefore, changing the timbre removes the monotony of speech and attracts the audience. You should maintain the timbre change throughout your speech in a few common ways: ^[16]

• End the question with a higher timbre.
• End the affirmation with a lower timbre.

Change the tempo. Pace is the speed of speech. Slowing down your speech will help you emphasize key words and phrases. Also makes it easier for people to understand if you tend to speak quickly. ^[17]

• Try pausing after making an important point to give your audience a chance to absorb.

Express emotions when appropriate. Have you ever heard someone speak with a shaky voice when they convey strong emotions in a speech? This method is quite effective in situations such as giving speeches or performing a play. You convey the timbre, or emotional index of your voice when expressing strong emotions. ^[18]

• For example, if you are expressing sadness, you can use a natural vibrato. However, do not try to create this.

Practice speech. Before giving your speech in front of an audience, practice alone in a quiet place. Experiment with different tones, speeds, volumes, and timbres. Record yourself and listen to what you can and cannot do. ^[19]

• Practice speaking multiple times with different variations. Record each attempt and compare each other.
• Many people feel uncomfortable hearing their own voice on tape. The voice on the tape and the voice in your head sound different, but it’s pretty much the same voice that the audience hears.

Drink a lot of water. When you speak for long periods of time or speak loudly, your throat and vocal cords need lubrication. You should avoid drinks that cause dehydration such as coffee, soda and alcohol. ^[20] Drink water instead.

• Keep a glass of water nearby when you speak.

Expand the function with vowels. Place your ring finger and index finger below the jawbone on any side of your face. Lower your jaw about 5 cm. Hold the jaw in place and proceed to sing all five vowels aeio u. ^[21]

• Try placing a cork or plastic bottle cap between your molars to keep your jaw in place.
• Continue this exercise until you can memorize it without having to hold your jaw in place.

Lower your chin. When raising your voice, you’ll want to lift your chin up for more power. Lifting your chin gives your voice a momentary boost, but over time it negatively affects your voice. Instead, try keeping your chin down while singing. ^[22]

• Try singing the higher scales in front of a mirror. Tilt your chin slightly down before you begin and focus on keeping your chin down even as you push your voice up high.
• Lowering your chin both relaxes your vocals and gives your vocals more control and power.

Incorporate vibrating voices when singing. Vibrato is a beautiful voice, but difficult to achieve. However, you can develop singing in a vibrato with practice techniques. ^[23]

• Place your hands on your chest and push your chest higher than usual.
• Inhale, and then exhale without moving the chest.
• As you exhale, sing the “a” sound with just one note. Hold the sound for as long as possible.
• In the middle of the moment you sing a note, press on your chest and visualize the air moving around in your mouth.

Determine the range. You can identify your range by singing the keys on the keyboard. Proceed with the C note (C) on the keyboard. This is the first white key to the left of the two black keys in the center of the keyboard. Sing the “la” sound that matches your tone when playing the keys on the left. Continuing with the keys out of reach, you can feel free to experiment with the notes until you feel stressed or can’t conquer anymore. Record the keyboard you have completed. This is your lowest range. ^[24]

• Keep working with the keys until you find your highest range.