***How to Tap the Full Potential of Your Speaking Voice

Speaking voices come in all shapes and sizes – literally. And, while you can attribute your vocal apparatus to genes, it is not just your genetic makeup that entirely determines the quality of your speaking voice. Your environment helps shape the sound of your voice as well.

If you study twins living in different parts of the country, for example, both will have the same vocal apparatus and possibly the same quality; but, what they do with it will vary according to the area in which they were raised and how they are using their voice.

The issue is not your genetic makeup or even the city or state in which you were raised however. The real issue is how you produce your vocal sound. The majority of the population are using 4 of their 5 resonators to phonate or produce voice. What is missing is the 5th resonator, the largest of the 5 cavities responsible for voiced sound.

Your nose, your mouth, your throat and your voice box all work together and determine the quality of your voice; however, if your are not using your chest cavity as your primary sounding board, then the result will be a voice thinner in breadth or fullness, higher in pitch and lacking in good resonance.

A voice that vibrates primarily in your nose, for example, displays a preponderance of nasal resonance. This is not the type of resonance you should be striving to achieve. The resonance that I am referring to is the vibration you will feel in your mid-torso region (in the middle of your breasts) when you are powering your voice by means of chest cavity and talking within the optimum range of your speaking voice.

Your optimum pitch will be entirely dependent on your vocal makeup, your genes. While you may want a voice as deep as that of James Earl Jones or Kathleen Turner, if it is not in your genetic makeup, then your voice may not be quite that deep. However, Kevin Spacey does not have a deep, bass voice but he still has a marvelous one because he is using his chest to power his sound.

You should strive to achieve the best voice you have. It is in there just waiting to be discovered. It is most likely deeper than your habitual voice, richer in quality, and warmer to boot. The one characteristic which distinguishes all of the great voices is their warmth – not their depth. And that characteristic can only be achieved if your chest is used as a resonator to produce your sound.

Tap the full potential of your speaking voice and you will be surprised at what you find.