Before giving talks, introducing yourself to someone important, there is a detail that often goes unnoticed by us: the need to take care of our voice so that it does not betray us.
Just as we warm up our muscles before doing sports, it is essential treat our vocal cords with the care they deserve and prepare those little muscles for the work they have to do. Of course, singing in the shower is an excellent way to warm up, but perhaps some of these others that I explain below would also come in handy in case, before going on stage or giving that conference, you did not have access to it.
The objective is, through good use of our voice, avoid overload and vocal fatigue to prevent injuries such as aphonia polyps on the vocal cords, etc… at the same time we find our own precious voice and give it longevity.
Although some people have unique vocal fold vibration patterns that make them better suited for performance, imitation, or song (as they move faster and close more tightly than usual), We can and must take care of the voice and develop it until it is optimized In addition to the exercises that I explain below, protecting the neck from the cold, drinking warm drinks (especially ginger or ginger tea) and avoiding alcohol and tobacco before using your voice for a long time are tips to keep in mind.
These exercises come from my learning as a soprano, they helped me and still do every day. Not only do they improve your voice… they also relax and increase concentration. In addition, they are quite discreet, so they can be done at any time without attracting attention. For example, before starting to teach, give a lecture…
1. Stretches
With our feet apart, aligned at the height of our hips, and our knees slightly bent, we direct our tailbone forward and raise our arms to the ceiling, grab one wrist with the other hand and pull it up. We repeat changing hands. About three times per hand will be enough to stretch the intercostal muscles and help the diaphragm relax
Now We massage our neck, trapezius area and shoulders to soften the muscles. We pass the arm over the head and place the palm of the hand over the ear, gently pulling the head, stretching all the muscles well. We can intensify it by stretching the opposite hand towards the ground.
Next we rest the chin on one shoulder and rotate the head downwards with the chin always touching the body to the other shoulder and always return rotating downwards.
2. Facial relaxation
With the tongue, we press the walls of the mouth as widely and strongly as we can. Then we pinch our cheekbones and cheeks, the area of the ciliary arch, pull our ears… and press again with our tongue. You will notice that now the tongue is capable of reaching much further with less effort. Repeat two or three times. Once we have warmed it up, tongue out, stretch down and forward, wait 15 seconds and relax inside.
If it bothers (at the base, not in the frenulum) repeat until it no longer bothers. The same towards the sides: tongue out, stretch down and right side, hold for 15 seconds and relax inside. The same towards the left side. Repeat until it doesn’t bother you.
3. Warm up the diaphragm
Feet hip-width apart, tailbone forward, knees slightly bent, inhale fully and expels air with great pressure through the almost closed mouth , emitting F sound while you control with your hands the amount of air that is emitted from the abdomen. With practice it is very easy and greatly helps to learn to manage the air we use when speaking. This is one of the most useful exercises to take care of your voice.
4. Warm up the vocal cords
With loose, duck-billed lips, open throat, and head tilted with chin pressed to chest, Inhale through the nose without nasal noise and exhale through the mouth sonorously imitating a horse and thereby making the lips vibrate. Repeat 5 times.
You place your front teeth on your lower lip and make a soft sound by exhaling a lot of air, imitating the humming of a bee with the letter V. Do it another 5 times.
Chewing with vertical jaw movements, tilt your head down and add the vowel O, repeating MO, MO, MO. 5 times.
5. Place your voice
To do this, in the “singing” (or speaking) position that you already know: legs apart, feet hip-width apart, tailbone forward, knees slightly bent, we lower our chin towards our chest and say a phrase. The voice has to resonate in the upper palate and vibrate in the incisors Repeat the phrase until you are sure that your voice is in that position, and you can even rehearse the speech, text or lesson you are about to present.
