***A Speaker Who Never Studied Voice Is Like a Surgeon Who Never Studied Biology

I sometimes voice my opinion on a forum that deals with public speaking issues and it never fails to amaze me how few understand that the untrained speaking voice can be an absolute liability. When you are trying to deliver a presentation and are unable to control your speed, your breathing, your quiver, and/or the rise in the pitch of your voice, then your nervousness is in control and not you. The benefits of discovering your ‘real’ voice are so numerous that there are times I’m tempted to call it life improvement. The few of us who teach diaphragmatic breathing as the fundamental impart to our clients a power that is awesome when speaking on stage, at the head of the boardroom table, or in conversation on the phone. It also never ceases to amaze me how few understand that one of the most important things you can do in public speaking is to breathe. There is no reason for breathlessness if you learn to supplement your air supply before you run out if. This is accomplished by means of the pause. Unfortunately, many speakers wait until they are totally spent before gasping for their next breath. The beauty of breathing with support is that it eliminates the toxins in your blood which shallow or upper chest breathing cannot do. In fact, lazy or shallow breathing actually increases your stress; whereas, diaphragmatic breathing keeps you in a more relaxed state – even when you’re nervous. I love nervousness; however, the secret is to take control of it and allow it to work for you and not against you. Controlling your nervous energy will make you sharper, more alert and more focused. The other reason for learning to breathe with support is that in order to find your ‘real’ voice – your deeper, rich, more mature sound – you must add your chest cavity as your primary resonator or primary sounding board. And, that is only possible if you change the way you breathe. In doing so, you will eliminate the quiver, gain total control over your speed and pitch, and be able to increase your volume without shouting. The latter is called projection and is only possible if your chest is doing the work. I liken the speaker without voice training to the surgeon who never studied biology. If you are serious about public speaking, then you should consider discovering your ‘real’ voice so that you can concentrate on your message and not on or what may or may not come out of your mouth!