The communication process of your ideas is done through clear articulation of your speech. This requires the physical movement of the tongue, lips, jaw, in contact within your mouth, your teeth, and palate (roof of your mouth) to create distinct enunciation of your words. The connection of these speech organs depends on the air-stream through your throat, mouth and teeth for your message to be heard accurately.
The sound waves are altered by your speech muscles stopping or shaping the sound you hear, as either consonants or vowels.
For English consonants it’s your tongue tip touching your alveolar ridge (gum ridge behind your front teeth) to produce t, d, n; or the air streaming over your tongue to produce s, z sounds, or the many other consonant-combinations. The consonants give the edge to your words. Without this edge your sound comes out as if you are mumbling because you don’t open your mouth widely, or move your lips to define words with distinct m, p, b; or with lips and teeth contact, such as f and v.
The English vowels give resonance to your words and the consonants give them clarity. Listeners may hear what you say but they may not understand what you say if there is no clear combination of breath, consonants, and vowels.
Your breathing is a partner re-shaping to where you place your tongue in your mouth at the upper front, middle, back, arching it up, or dropping it down. The air is rushing to accommodate around your positioning to create your sound, words, phrases, and sentences.
The Link of Diaphragmatic Breathing process to your articulators is that it provides more flexibility and volume of air space and air pressure as it changes and travels through your lungs, chest, larynx (voice box), trachea, nasal and oral cavities to exit as clearly understood words.
Improve your diction to create presence when you speak, by avoiding to speaking too quickly, having a tight jaw or little mouth movement, and you’ll improve your speaking confidence.
If you would like some exercises including a few tongue twisters so you can train your articulators as if they doing gymnastics, take a look at Chapter Four on Articulate to Attract in “Breathing…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches” by Speech Coach, Brenda C. Smith.
Have you read the previous Blog# 1, 2 and 3 in this Series on How Diaphragmatic Breathing Is Linked to Your Voice?
The Diaphragmatic Breathing process helps you relax, focus, boost your energy, improve your speech tone and clarity. This breathing method is applied when you inhale a breath while your diaphragmatic muscle expands your lower ribs and stomach area. Then as you exhale your breath passes through the vocal folds to allow for vibration for your speech. The diaphragm returns to its former position on exhalation until you take your next breath. Obviously, you will automatically continue breathing on your next inhalation with the same cyclical process in order to stay alive.
The benefit of this process is that you will get more air space to manage than if you used only your upper shoulder neck area to breath with. The link to your voice is that you will have enough air to speak without being short of breath whether you are a professional speaker or just getting through your normal daily life.
The ability to control the amount of air you might need so you have enough air at the end of your sentence is a bonus to allow for more expression of tone to make your story or message be heard and felt by your listeners.
You can retrain your breathing style to diaphragmatic breathing with a simple exercise of practising to breathe in for four seconds, hold it for three seconds, then exhale for four seconds. Place your hands on your stomach or your sides to feel the expansion in your lower ribs as you inhale. Each day increase the amount of time your exhale your breath eventually getting comfortable to a count of ten or more.
Diaphragmatic breathing has the power to fully relax your body, mind, and the sound of your voice. This becomes a valuable tool to avoid panic attacks or feel nervous; it sets up your mind to focus more clearly; and it links to your voice becoming more flexible in expressing your ideas with a variety of tone.
If you want your voice to be energetic, vibrant and clear, consider adapting to the diaphragmatic breathing method as your core base in preparation to speaking with presence. This is your default backup system to discovering your best voice.
For more exercises and benefits of diaphragmatic breathing process take a look at Chapter one in “Breathing…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches” by speech coach, Brenda C. Smith. She has written an easy-to-follow book with targeted exercises from beginners to advanced levels including stories of successful participants.
This blog is the first one in her series of seven steps outlining how you can go from preparation to creating presence and engaging performance. The entire series shows what is already available within you to speak with comfortable with confidence. If you found this information helpful, then please continue to read this series of more benefits that link to diaphragmatic breathing.
Hey, I wanted to let you know where there are lots more resources on how to improve your vocal impact and presentations.
There are excellent tips related to your voice so you can be speak with clarity, charisma, and drama here on my Voice Power Training Services link.
As a speech and drama coach I'm sharing a variety of techniques with you whether you are a novice or an expert speaker. Hope you find something that will spark your vocal energy.
Take a look and tell us what blog post helped you the most: Voice Power Blog
Are you a woman today in a leadership position who requires speaking as a business and forward-thinking visionary? There are three important elements that you need to project which you may not have considered, namely: voice quality, voice projection, and voice presence.
Key #1: How do your listeners respond to the sound of your voice? If you have a tone that is out of sync in pitch level, it will jar the audience to take note and distract them from your content. Your tone may sound too nasal, too hoarse, too dull, too tired, too childish, or any other extreme level. The quality of the sound of your voice can easily be checked by listening objectively to a recording of your voice, getting feedback from others, or an assessment from a voice coach. Draw the attention of your listeners with an authoritative warm voice that invites them wanting to hear your ideas, processes, or solutions. Your voice quality is the immediate first hook to your commanding the stage.
Key #2: Are you heard clearly by everyone in the room the moment you begin to speak? Are you a soft speaker, sound tense, or speak too quickly? The result of doing this undermines your expertise and makes you appear to be a weak leader. By adjusting your voice projection so you are not shouting, which could damage your vocal folds (chords), will allow your points to be heard easily by everyone. With a few vocal projection exercises that apply diaphragmatic breathing techniques like actors use can help to project your sound to the farthest point or person in the room. Understanding how to project your voice will especially help any trainers, coaches, fitness instructors, and teachers to stop straining your voice or getting laryngitis by the end of the day. You will command the stage and stay voice fit.
Key #3: Do you inspire your audience with your vocal presence or leave them feeling that it was a waste of time to listen to you? Creating vocal presence allows your audience of managers, employees, or team members to leave the room at the end with an action plan that genuinely inspires them to move forward with you. If you simply repeat facts or challenges and offer your leadership comments on it all with a voice that sounds flat, routine, or matter-of-fact, there is no room for emotional passion. Therefore, use your story or example to make your recommendations or reports come alive and be relevant to the benefits of the people you serve. Make your mind be in the moment of excitement or hope so your voice flexes with emotional rise and falls to give variety and believability to your presentation. A monotone is not inspiring but will put your audience to sleep. Infuse a variety of inflection so your audience relives your hope for the future and wants to be part of the solution. Again your breathing management will allow you to have flexible vocal engagement. You become the cheerleader of your own speech – you are the leader on the stage taking ownership with your vocal presence.
Body language and content are supreme elements to your performance speaking; but indeed, it must be balanced with your vocal impact too. You’ve worked hard to gain the leadership you deserve. Now it’s the time to go beyond the climb-up-the-ladder pinnacle and possess the stage that gives your audience a leader to look up to. Inspire with your vocal presence!
Brenda C. Smith