***The Right Way to Increase Your Volume Without Shouting

By Nancy Daniels, The Official Guide to Public Speaking
The official guide to Public Speaking

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One of the difficulties many people have is to the ability to increase their volume without hurting their throat or their listeners’ ears. The right way to do this is known as projection and is only possible if you are powering your voice from your chest cavity.

There is a right way to increase your volume and a wrong way. Those who attend sporting events – and those watching on TV as well – are often afflicted with hoarseness, a sore throat, or even loss of voice by the end of the game because of the abuse they are inflicting on their vocal folds (cords) and throat. That is the wrong way to root for your favorite team; and, over time it can lead to serious damage.

Not just sports enthusiasts are at risk, however. Politicians, singers, public speakers, coaches, teachers, trainers, ministers, and even factory workers are often affected by vocal abuse because they are stressing the throat and vocal folds for great lengths of time in order to be heard in large or loud environments. In fact, if you have ever tried to talk in a noisy bar, a club or even at a wedding, you might have experienced some discomfort in your throat by the end of the night.

You can gain the ability to increase your volume without shouting by discovering your true voice which is more resonant and a warmer sound than that which you are presently using, also known as your habitual voice. And, because you have been relying on your throat and voice box as your primary sources of power for your sound, what results is usually something less than pleasing.

Once you break your old habits and instill new ones in which you use your chest cavity as your primary sounding board, you will discover a voice that you can project for greater lengths of time without hurting your throat or vocal folds. In addition:

1. your increased volume will not hurt your listeners’ ears because the sound will be larger not ‘louder;’
2. you will have more energy by the end of the day. (Projection takes much less work than yelling.)

In the years I was raising my two sons, I did not yell or shout at them; I projected. In doing so, it kept me in control as well as my kids because children do not listen when you yell at them.

There is a right way and a wrong way to increase your volume. Learn how to project your voice and you will love the results!