Transcripts

Roger Love:
Let’s say you’re at the dry cleaners, and you see two people that all of a sudden recognize each other. The conversation kind of goes like this: “Hey, how zit goin, huh, whazup (etc)." Is that language?

Vocal Coach, Roger Love…

The second that you open your mouth, whether there’s one person or a thousand people listening, they’re your public, and you’re a public speaker.

And the sounds that come out of your mouth should be engaging, entertaining, so that people will want to talk to you.

There’s a very common vocal pitfall we tend to fall into.

Most people are holding their breath when they speak. They’re raising their chest and shoulders, and they’re getting almost no air in. And, they’re speaking like this.

I teach people how to let the air come out in solid lines so the words are attached to that. And it sounds more like you’re singing instead of just like you’re mumbling.

So, how do you speak and breathe that way?

Breathe in through your nose, and fill up your stomach area as if you had a big balloon in there. And, while you’re speaking, let your stomach fall back in, like an accordion. It creates more melody. It also creates more volume. It also creates better resonance.

So, something as easy as just pretending you have a balloon in your stomach, filling it up, and then letting your stomach come back in the whole time you’re speaking, makes a world of difference to the speaking voice.

Tomorrow, more simple ways to improve your voice. I'm Mike Carruthers, and that's Something You Should Know.