How to Take Care of Your Voice

Vocal health is necessary to maintain vocal quality and prevent vocal disorders such as
laryngitis, vocal nodules, and vocal cord weakness. Sound is created by vocal cord vibrations.
Strong vocal hygiene is a matter of instilling good habits that protect your voice over time.

The voice is one of the most important tools for actors, adding nuance and quite literally
breathing new life into texts. But taking the time and making the effort to train the voice isn’t just
the difference between a good performance and a goosebump-inducing showstopper, it’s crucial
for the vocal health of actors – not just when they deliver lines, but in their everyday lives.

Do's

Warm up: Vocal warmups are necessary to keep your vocal muscles from strain and help keep
you speaking and singing. Less than 30 minutes before any extended or critical voice use,
spend between 15 to 20 minutes to do vocal warmups that “cover the full range of breathing,
voicing, resonance, and articulation exercises,” voice pathologist Dr. Linda Carroll told
Backstage. Vocal warm ups include vocal stretches, sharp exhales, elocution, slides, flexes, lip
flutters, and fake yawns. For voice work, voice teacher Andrew Byrne recommends mouthing
your lines to activate the articulators: your jaw, tongue, and lips. “Additionally, several postural
muscles of your larynx will be moving and getting warm, even though your vocal cords will still
not be touching,” he says.

Practice sight reading: This is when you recite books or scripts you’ve never read before, out
loud. It’s an essential part of almost any audition and the more you do, the better you get –
remember to look up at the end of thoughts, this will help you be more convincing.

Breathe at punctuation: It may sound obvious but punctuation divides text into thoughts,
helping you make sense of it. So it’s important to breathe at punctuation to gain a better
understanding of the character’s thoughts. Be careful though, if you breathe when there is no
punctuation, you will be in danger of unintentionally transforming that speech into a list.

Breathe consciously: Breath is the power behind your voice, but it’s so easy to allow it to
become restricted – once in a while we all forget to inhale, perhaps if we’re stressed or shocked.
That can lead to shallow, throaty vocal delivery, so try to let the breath drop in deeper and as
you breathe out, sense how the stomach muscles contract to help the diaphragm push the air
out of the body.

Relax the jaw: This is so important, as it creates room in the mouth for the tongue to move
freely, which is the part of our mouth that actually creates the shapes for us to articulate sounds,
so it really helps with oral resonance. Try saying “ahhhh” with a tense jaw and then hear the
difference when you allow the jaw to drop open.
Hydrate: Proper hydration is the most important thing you can do for healthy vocal cords—and
if you’re wondering what to drink to have a good voice, the number one answer is always water.
“Drink plenty of water at least an hour before a session, in order to moisten all the tissues in
your mouth,” says Marc Cashman, a voiceover actor, producer, and instructor.

Exercise/Train your voice: To strengthen the voice, as well as the actor’s diction and clarity
“Hold your top and bottom teeth together gently and go through a series of tongue twisters,
forcing your lips to do the work." Another exercise is to put a wine cork or a pencil halfway in
your mouth, then try to read the text as clearly as possible. “The clearer you are with the cork,”
“the better you will be without it.”

Strengthen your tongue: Do exercises such as letting the jaw drop open and pointing out the
tongue, touching it to the top lip, bottom lip, top teeth, bottom teeth, top gum ridge behind your
top teeth, and the bottom gum ridge behind your bottom teeth, the hard palate and the floor of
mouth. Repeat the sequence five times and don’t forget to breathe or make sure that the jaw
remains relaxed!

Shape the words: Each word has a different combination of vowels and consonants that give it
a different feel when spoken. Try to become more aware of the physical sensation of speaking
these, particularly when practising sight reading.

Yawn: This is an easy one for most of us. Yawning is one of the best voice exercises you can
ever do, as it lessens constriction in the throat. Indulge as often as possible and always make it
part of your warm-up.

Exercise your body: Physical exercise is also important to keeping your voice working well. “All
voiceover takes breath and breath control—that’s why cardiovascular exercise is so
important,” Cashman says. “The better your fitness, the bigger your lung capacity and the more
control you will have over your breathing.” Cashman finds physical fitness vital when doing
more-demanding sessions: Those who don’t exercise “will have a hard time. They will run out of
breath at the end of a phrase or sentence. Sustaining long passages is particularly difficult, and
they may not be able to pull off long-form work like audio books.”

Practice good alignment: Your body is the carry case for your voice, so if your posture is
aligned correctly, your instrument remains in good condition. Imagine your pelvis as the
foundation stone of the spine, and try to be tall through the back, so that your neck is straight,
rather than curved.

Use your time wisely: If you’re commuting to an audition or performance, use that time to the
benefit of your vocal health. “I tell my students, when they’re on the way to an audition or
session, to vocalize in the car. It takes you 15 to 30 minutes to get anywhere in Los Angeles, so
you may as well take advantage of it,” Cashman says. “Look at billboards and make up
melodies with the words they see. Singing at a comfortable range will stretch your vocal cords.
By the time you get to the session, you are vocally where you need to be. You’ll be warmed up,
focused, and ready to hit the ground running.”

Cool down: Cooldowns are needed to bring your voice back down to its state of normal use.
Take about two to three minutes to do cooldowns—including descending slides, lowering vocal
intensity, and gentle breath pulses—within five minutes of closing out your vocal performance.

Know the value of rest: Taking breaks in between recording and performance sessions helps
protect your voice from overuse and strain. “I think good rest is probably the best thing you can
do for your voice,” singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell said in an interview. Pencil in regular vocal
naps of 10 to 20 minutes every two to three hours on longer days of voice use.

DON'TS

Overuse your voice: Overuse and strain can make your voice hoarse—or even make you lose
it entirely. "Excessive talking is one of the worst things for your voice,” says Evanescence
singer-songwriter Amy Lee.

Talk with your mouth full: Food and drink can be treacherous for the vocal performer.
Cashman warns students to avoid caffeine, sugar, dairy products, before a session. Meals are
also another potential problem. “Don’t eat a heavy meal before a session,” he says. “You’re just
going to be tired, and your throat will be full of food detritus. If you do eat a heavy meal, rinse
your mouth, brush your teeth, clean your mouth out completely.”

Venture too far outside your range: Allow your vocal range, the range in which your voice is
the most comfortable, to dictate most of your performances. Stick to your range as much as
possible, and only venture outside of it for brief stints.