How to Project Your Voice and Speak Louder
- March 8, 2020
Have you ever observed your audience leaning forward from their seat to listen to you? Or witness perplexed faces while delivering a presentation? Well, you are not alone. Speaking too softly is one of the most common issues encountered during speeches. In this article, we will explore the importance of projecting your voice, and methods to do it well.
Why it is important to project your voice and speak louder
Engages Audience
Projecting your voice allows you to deliver a speech loud and clear. This engages audience as they will be able to understand and follow you. Think about it, would you be able to follow a speech if you couldn’t hear the speaker clearly?
Increase your Credibility
Speaking softly often sends a signal to the audience that a speaker is not confident and is unprepared. This reduces trust and hence affects the credibility of the speaker. After all, we haven’t yet encountered a great speaker who speaks softly.
How to project your voice and speak louder
Method 1: Diaphragmatic Breathing
To speak louder, use diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing. This type of breathing allows you to inhale more oxygen and provides more support to your voice. In comparison, the usual chest breathing takes in lesser oxygen and provides lesser support to your voice. Hence diaphragmatic breathing helps to project your voice and speak louder.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, stand with your back straight and shoulders back. If you are seated, do not cross your legs. Keep your back straight and head held up. With the right posture, the muscles used for diaphragmatic breathing will be relaxed. Next place a hand on your belly. Breathe in and feel your stomach moving outwards. Breathe out slowly and feel your stomach move inwards. Keep practicing until you get the hang of it.
After you get the hang of the technique, apply it to a speech. Notice how your voice sounds louder and fuller now compared to chest breathing.
Method 2: Mask Resonance Technique
Mask resonance technique is a technique that uses the upper part of your face (area where you wear an eye mask) to project your voice.
To practise this technique, start by tapping and massaging the ‘eye mask’ area (cheekbone and forehead). Then, start saying some words and at the same time, visualize your voice coming out from the ‘eye mask’ area.
Familiarize yourself with the technique by just repeating 1 or 2 words. Consider practising with commonly used words like ‘I, you or we’. Once the visualization and projection of voice from the ‘eye mask’ area comes naturally to you, try saying a sentence. You can move progressively to a few sentences, a paragraph and ultimately a short story.
Practise this a few times daily, preferably with a louder-than-normal voice. Soon you’ll be able to project your voice strongly and loudly with minimal effort. When you can use this technique proficiently, you can basically speak without exerting too much force on your throat. This is
particularly beneficial if you need to speak for long hours consecutively.
Watch a video here on how it is done.
The techniques listed above cannot be mastered overnight. To be an expert of these techniques, start practicing today and impress the audience at your next speech!
Interested to improve other areas of your voice?
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