"My voice always goes up too high!" Just two days ago, a fellow speaker asked for pertinent recommendations in an internal Facebook group. She would notice this especially when lecturing, she wrote. Had she received feedback from her listeners? Or did she only notice this aspect of your way of speaking so clearly when watching her video recordings? Curious, I click through her interesting website. Find clear statements, well-formulated offers. The photos show a dynamic woman, expressive, in various speaking situations.

Then the videos. The moment of truth. Do the ears confirm what the eyes suggest? As Quintilian said so beautifully: "He who insults the ear does not penetrate to the soul!"

 

Voice question hit list

If there were a hit list of the most frequently asked questions for voice coaches, the following questions would probably be at the top of the list:

  • "My Voice sounds too high when stressed or performed, how can I get a deeper voice?"
  • "My colleague speaks in a higher voice, what can you do?"
  • "As a man, I want a deep voice!"
  • "What can I do to make my voice sound fuller and more voluminous?" And:
  • "Doesn't it take forever for me to reach my goal with all these lengthy vocal exercises?"

Since I have been offering the uncomplicated possibility to call me free of charge on my website to discuss open questions about voice and communication, I hear such questions particularly often. Have you tried it yet? Click here for -> talk to Arno Fischbacher on the phone free of charge .

Voice training in a crash course?

Without a doubt, comprehensive voice and speech training is demanding. In addition to classical voice training and the training of breathing, articulation and modulation, it also includes techniques to establish contact with the audience at any time. Psychological strategy of Persuasiveness and the examination of effective language patterns are also on the curriculum. And each of these individual learning steps only unfolds its full effect if you succeed in strengthening your own confidence in your appearance.

Of course, all this does not happen overnight. It is not for nothing that voice and speech professionals such as actors or studio announcers spend years in acting schools or speaker training.

My own acting training is now well over forty years ago, but I remember very well those weeks I spent transforming my flat Upper Austrian "ei" (as in mein, dein, sein) into a reasonably high-level "main", "dain", "sain".

Isn't speaking deeper also faster?

When you read about this demanding training program, you may also spontaneously think: "I don't want to be an actor! For me, it's just about being happier with my voice and not fainting all the time while watching my video recordings!"?

Is so much work and time really necessary for successful speaking in everyday life? If you've worked with me before, you'll know that I'm an ardent advocate of small, everyday training steps. They must be easy to implement, they must not take too much time and they must provide you with immediate results.

Train your voice for lectures and presentations – here's how!

Why speaking more deeply and powerfully is so often not possible

What makes it so important to deal with your own vocal sound? Why isn't it enough to just start talking? Doesn't one lose the much-praised authenticity with all this "self-optimization"?

If you've read this far, you're probably not one of those people who confuse "being authentic" with "I'll always stay the way I am, the others have to deal with it!" anyway. You may be wondering, "What is my voice? What exercises or tools can I use to develop further?"

For me, the most important keys to personal growth and human development are:

  • To have the will and courage to question one's own thoughts, actions and behaviors
  • A good dose of curiosity
  • The realization that habitual behaviors are perceived as "ok" by gut feeling is therefore far too often appeased by the mind: "That can't be too wrong!"

Ein Mann steht vor einem Flipchart mit Zeichnungen und Text und hält in einem Raum eine Präsentation. Das Flipchart enthält handgezeichnete Illustrationen und Sätze, darunter in Rot „Störende 'ähms'“, was die Bedeutung von „besser reden“ betont.

What often makes the voice higher than necessary in everyday life?

Largely unnoticed, we are surrounded daily by voices that are far from exploiting their natural potential. Yet it is everyday things that prevent us from letting the power of our voice work favorably for us and from speaking more deeply and powerfully. They unnecessarily tense our vocal cords and thus drive the voice to higher registers, so that sometimes unpleasant vibrations flutter in the ear.

The typical factors that make the voice sound higher and less full and pleasant are:

  • Situational Stress : Tension in speaking situations, nervousness before delicate conversations, time pressure, etc.
  • Unfavorable postures : If you sit or stand too casually, you give away vocal effect. If you only move your mouth when speaking, you sound monotonous.
  • Limited articulation: Frozen facial expressions and chewing muscles, which are tense to "bite through", make the voice sound much tighter.

What helps you quickly to have a deep and powerful voice?

Three zones in the body work together to help your vocal sound unfold:

  • Your "tone generator" in the larynx, in which your vocal folds vibrate and thus produce the raw sound. There it is important to let go in the best possible way. Because voice is vibration. If the two vocal folds, the ones in your larynx that swing towards each other when you speak, are tense, they produce a higher tone, the more they let go, the deeper and rounder your voice sounds.
  • Your "articulation zone" , i.e. your mimic muscles, mouth, lips, tongue and chewing muscles. Activate your facial expressions and stretch all the muscles in your face and mouth, giving your voice a fresh, pleasantly bright sound. And give your often stress-ridden chewing muscles back their natural range of motion, your voice will modulate up and down more vividly, so you can also reach deeper tones naturally.
  • Balance and space of your movements. Did you know that the way you sit or stand has a massive influence on the richness, clarity and assertiveness of your voice? Read more about this topic here "More sonority through correct standing when speaking" or my tips "How your sitting position affects your voice" or "Effortlessly have your say through the coachman's seat" .

Three practical tips: How to make your voice sound deeper and fuller

Do you often chase from one appointment to the next in your everyday life? Panting from one meeting to the next? That's exactly when today's practical tips fit perfectly, because they cost very little time. They help you quickly and effortlessly to speak more relaxed, sonorous and deeper:

  • Motorcycling
  • Chew air ball
  • Bumblebee humming

Tip 1: Motorcycling for loose vocal folds and the courage to make free gestures

Just imagine sitting on an imaginary motorcycle of your choice (displacement as you wish!). You pull the clutch (left handle) and start the engine, preferably by pressing the start pedal firmly with your foot. Now carefully let the clutch grind, step on the gas ... can you hear the engine humming up? – Of course, he only does that if you courageously let your lips flutter with a strong humming sound: "Brrrmmmm! Brrrmmmm!"

You can use this lightning warm-up exercise for your voice particularly effectively when you make an imaginary motorcycle lap with large sweeping movements and produce the corresponding soundtrack with childlike courage.

Your benefit after just 15 seconds:

  • The air recoil into your larynx when your lips flutter massages your vocal folds, so to speak, the muscle tension decreases, your voice becomes deeper and fuller at the moment
  • Your mimic muscles are stretched and released, which improves your articulation.
  • You cross standardised behavioural boundaries by consciously approaching things in a childlike and playful way. This stretches and expands your shame boundaries, which can lead to unexpected looseness towards your audience.

Tip 2: "Mnjmmmm!" – Chew a thick air ball

This highly effective exercise is described in the literature as "chewing" – in other words, it is about chewing and "phoning" while doing so, i.e. making the voice sound:

You imagine feeling a pleasant, large soft ball of air in your mouth that fills the space all the way to the back of your throat. They now begin to chew on it with their mouths closed with large movements of the lower jaw - and intonate in a relaxed manner "mmmm" . The whole thing will probably sound similar to what you want to do with your lips closed "Mnnjammm!" say.

Your benefit after just 15 seconds:

  • The further back towards the throat you feel your air ball, the more you open the so-called yawning tension.
  • You will expand the air duct in your throat as if you wanted to yawn. This automatically gives your voice more sonority and volume and makes it sound deeper.
  • This vocal technique is responsible for the distinctive and sonorous voices of many voice professionals.

E-Book-Download "7 Praxistipps für die Macht der Stimme im Business"

Tip 3: Wwwwake-up call for your diaphragm

But what if your audience is already scratching their hooves and it's your turn to present your important topics in a few seconds? Then use this inconspicuous but highly effective kickstart for your main respiratory muscle, your diaphragm:

  • How does a voiced voice develop? "www" ? Go into the starting position inwardly, as if you wanted to imitate the flight sound of a fat bumblebee. Gently place your upper incisors on your lower lip.
  • With a small pulse, you can now release a vibrating "Wwww!" just like a bumblebee that is just taking off, but takes off again after only ten centimeters of flight.
  • You may notice that your "wwww" the first time it vibrates really nicely. Pause for a moment and repeat the whole thing until you have a full "wwww" hear and feel.

Your benefit after just 15 seconds:

The more often you use this micro-exercise, the faster your organism will find the right impulse for vocal speech. This will teach your diaphragm to provide your voice with the necessary airflow from the very first moment. It's worth it for you with more ease and more depth.

Alternatively, this exercise also works with a voiced "ssss" , just as if you wanted to imitate a fat fly.

There is nothing good unless you do it ...

I have presented you with three recommendations for a deeper and fuller voice today. I wish you a lot of success and fun trying it out and using it.

Feel free to write me your experiences in the comments – and I am particularly happy about a "like" of the video. If you have any questions – or if you want to read and hear answers and tips on a specific topic in my next videos or blog posts:

Click here for my open phone! >>

I wish you every success in all your conversations, in all your presentations. You probably already know:

Her voice works. Voice sells!

Blaue handschriftliche Unterschrift auf transparentem Hintergrund, die Bände spricht und mit Raffinesse verkauft.Yours sincerely,

Arno Fischbacher

 

 

Read also: Perform confidently, but how?

The author:

Arno Fischbacher is a business voice coach and rhetoric expert, speaker and author. He prepares executives and employees of the top companies in Germany and Austria for negotiations, presentations and media appearances. Fischbacher is the author of several books, past president of the German Speakers Association (GSA) Austria, chairman of the European Network of Voice Experts, stimme.at.

If you would like to learn more about specific training opportunities with Arno Fischbacher, make an appointment here free information talk.

30 min kostenlose Beratung mit Arno Fischbacher

 

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