Unlock Your Voice
Your voice is your most personal instrument — and you can shape how it sounds. Together, we’ll explore how to improve vocal tone by managing breath, releasing tension, and increasing resonance through simple, practical exercises.
The following speech was my first speech at Toastmasters. Please note that this is not professional advice. If your voice starts hurting, please stop immediately.
Hi, I’m Patrick. And for the longest time, I hated how my voice sounded — especially on recordings.
Have you ever played back a voice note and thought, “Is that really what I sound like?”
Why don't we sound like Morgan Freeman or that radio host with the most enticing voice imaginable? Why can’t we have a voice like that? A voice that people want to listen to?
We tend to think that we are born with this voice and that we have to live with it.
But what if I told you you don’t have to? What if your voice isn’t just something you were given but something you can grow?
And all of you being here, I know you are great at growing!
So today, I want to help you grow your voice. We will examine three aspects of your voice. Three aspects that have helped me understand my own voice:
- Breath
- Tension
- Resonance
Breath
First, breath, or famously called Breath Support, is how you move air into your vocal tract. And let me tell you, everything up here depends on the air from down here. For example, you can talk using a lot of air. Or you can use very little air, known as vocal fry.
Ideally, for a full voice, you need to find the right balance of airflow and pressure.
But Patrick, how do I get there? Generally, the answer is simple: play around with your voice.
But specifically for the breath support, you can simply hum or restrict airflow using vvvvvss. These are great ways to warm up your voice in general that I use before every speech.
Tension
Now that we’ve talked about breath, let’s move to something trickier—something I still struggle with: tension!
So who thinks you need to put in a lot of effort when you want to have a great sounding voice? Please raise your hand!
Not true! You need tension only in specific areas, mainly down here. In general, up here should be relaxed! Here are two simple exercises to release tension.
The first one, recommended by Morgan Freeman: Yawn a lot! [1]
This is very powerful, as it relaxes your entire vocal tract, allowing it to vibrate more effectively.
The second exercise might look a bit stupid but is very helpful: speak or sing with your tongue out.
Like I said, this looks very stupid , but it helps relax your tongue as well.
Without tension, you allow your body to vibrate.
Resonance
With the right breath and tension, the last ingredient to a full voice is resonance. And how do we create resonance? By creating space!
There are basically two spaces. The chest and the head.
To find the resonance in your chest, just place your hand on your chest and feel the vibrations. And, what always helps me is imagining your voice coming from your chest. But it does not stop there. For your head: Smile, raise your eyebrows. This raises our soft palate in the back, creating a resonant headspace.
Summary
And that’s it: You now know breath, tension, and resonance.
And you know some exercises: We covered humming and vvvs to balance your airflow, yawning, placing your tongue out to release tension, and lastly, creating space by lifting your eyebrows and feeling your chest to increase resonance.
So the next time you hear your voice and think, ‘That’s not what I want to sound like,’ remember this: you can grow your voice. So play with it. And if anyone catches you mid-yawn with your tongue out, just say, “Back off. I’m becoming Morgan Freeman.”
Thank you.