A surprising number of people suffer vocal abuse and are unaware that it is a problem which will not go away on its own. There are no drugs or medicines a doctor can prescribe that will end your suffering because the abuse is being caused by misplacement and/or overuse of your speaking voice. In the long run, what this means is that as long as you continue with the same vocal habits which created the abuse, it will not go away and it will probably get worse.
The symptoms of vocal abuse may be chronic hoarseness, persistent sore throats or even loss of voice by the end of the day. Unfortunately, for some people, vocal abuse can even lead to spasmodic dysphonia, or strangled voice.
While it is possible to experience vocal abuse because of certain antihistamines or post nasal drip, if you have been to an ear, nose, and throat specialist and have been given a clean bill of health, then your vocal abuse is being caused by how you are producing your vocal sound. In order to remedy the problem you will have to break your ‘old’ voice habits and instill new ones.
We have 5 resonators which are responsible for powering as well as amplifying voiced sound. The problem for the majority of the population is that they are unaware of and not using the largest of those resonators, the chest cavity. We are renowned for being lazy or shallow breathers which results in voices being powered by only the other 4 resonators: your voice, throat, mouth and nose. You may think that those 4 are enough to do the job but when you look at the size of those 4 cavities and then compare them to the size of your chest cavity, can you see the advantage of adding your chest to the picture?
In doing so, you will discover not only a richer, warmer, deeper, resonant sound, but you will also have the ability to increase your volume without shouting as well as the ability to speak for greater lengths of time without hurting your throat or voice box.
What is also fascinating about this type of voice improvement or voice training is that once you make the change and allow your ‘chest to do your talking,’ your vocal abuse will be no more.
We all need a voice, be it for professional reasons or personal. Ignoring your vocal abuse will not make it go away. Learn to place your voice properly and listen to the difference in how you sound. Without a doubt, you will sound better; you will probably look better; and, most definitely, you will feel better about yourself.
The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. To see how voice training can improve your life, both professionally and personally, visit Voice Dynamic or watch a brief video as The Voice Lady describes The 5 Characteristics of Dynamic Public Speaking.
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