Have you ever presented a talk with a shy voice where you hardly moved your lips while speaking? Have you gone to speak at your event and your voice was gritty or shaky? After you pressed record for your video blog, did you notice you had to clear your voice or maybe cough to get a clear sound?
Don’t start your important message with a cold voice! Warm her up.
Here are 3 quick vocal warm ups for presenting with ease!
- Tongue Twisters
- Diaphragm pops
- The M’s
Tongue twisters are a fun and effective way to warm up your whole lip and mouth area for fuller expression with speaking! Your pronunciation will be brought to a new level too with these tongue twisters so the consonants you are speaking get articulated and heard. Try saying these 4 tongue twisters 5-10 times before your event.
1- Black bugs blood is blue
2- Unique New York
3- Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses.
4- A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.
Diaphragm pops are warming up with words that contract the diaphragm muscle which is your main breathing muscle that sits right along the bottom of the rib cage. Getting the diaphragm enlivened and ready for action with fuller breaths to support longer bouts of talking, will give you a smooth approach and your listeners will find your speaking more easeful to listen to.
The consonants to play with are P, D, & Sh
say words like “Pop” “Dirty Dog” and “Shush” – say these normally, then say them with a “staccato” approach, quick and short.
The M’s are to get your vocal chords moving with the breath as well as create awareness of the 4 resonant chambers so you have a nice even quality to your voice and your audience will want to listen to your words.
Say: Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, Moo
First say these M’s so that your chest vibrates, then say it like the words were marbles in your mouth and you were trying not to let them fall out, thirdly, say them like you were the wicked witch of the west with a nasal tone, finally, turn into Glenda the good witch and say the words in an upper fairy head voice way.
Give these 3 quick vocal warm ups a try for presenting with ease and see if your voice has more presence, articulation and expression for your important message!
All the best!