***Voices That Crack, Quiver and Quake

Are you plagued by a voice that cracks, quivers or just isn’t there when you need it? Often occurring at the most inopportune times, all three problems are usually caused by stress on the vocal folds (cords).

Because your vocal folds are an organ, it is important to treat them well; and, learning how to power your voice without undue pressure on those folds is the only way to solve your problem.

While cracking is very common in the boy who is going through puberty, it also happens to adults and tends to effect the male voice more than the female voice. The quiver in the voice is common in both men and women; however, I have found it to be more prevalent among women.

When we talk about the voice that fails, it usually occurs on a word or two: the individual will be speaking and will suddenly have no voice. Often this happens when the speaker has run out of air.

While any of these conditions can occur in normal speech, they are usually caused by nervousness. Nervousness in public speaking, in the sales presentation, or in normal conversation can greatly exacerbate the problem.

The only way to solve the problem is to find your ‘real’ voice, a voice that is powered by your chest, thereby alleviating the stress or the tension on your vocal folds. Because most people use only 4 of their 5 resonators to power their sound, the result is tremendous pressure or wear and tear on those delicate organs. Once the chest enters the picture, however, much more of the voice is then being powered and amplified by the chest cavity.

If you compare the size of the chest to that of the other 4 resonating cavities – the voice box, throat, mouth and nose – it is obvious that from size alone, you will gain much greater power over your voice when you use your chest as your primary sounding board.

Once this happens, you will discover not only a more mature-sounding, resonant speaking voice, but also the best means of controlling nervousness in any form of public speaking.

Nervousness is wonderful and can give you an edge; however, controlling it is the secret to allowing your nervousness to work for you and not against.

Discover your powerful voice inside and say goodbye to the cracks, the quivers and the quakes forever!