When I wake every morning, I find my voice hoarse. My chest filled with cough and generally I don't like to open my mouth to speak at this hour. I brush and have a good mouthwash. Is it necessary to also use a tongue cleaner every morning.
I am not very verbal and I find difficulty in communication. Because of my speech But my future work may entail mixing with people, making presentations. Kindly guide me as to how I can improve clarity of speech and improve my English communication and conversation skills.

Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Surrender

Hi Surendras,

If you have not abused your voice the day before by overworking it, which can cause hoarseness and you wake up with a dry hoarse voice, it is generally due to sleeping with your mouth open and "blow drying your vocal cords" as you breath in and out from your mouth not your nose. Also Air conditioners and heaters both are designed to take the moisture out of the air so if either of those are on all night, you will have a "DRY" throat which sounds scratchy when you speak. Get yourself a humidifier to add moisture to the room...if you don't have one, a pan of water by your bed will help add moisture to the air. Also keep water by your bedside and the minute you wake up sip water to moisten the vocal cords. My favorite moisture trick is to bite the tip of my tongue (gently of course) and the saliva glands will automatically secrete moisture in your mouth and to your vocal cords. TRY IT NOW!!!

For tips on the voice you can visit my web site and feel free to ask me anything... What kind of accent do you have????

Best of luck,
-Joni Wilson

Hi Shelia...

First of all congratulations on having the courage to get up in front of five people and sing. it's easier to get up in front of 500 you don't know than 5 you do know. Second, as you already know, what you experienced was nervousness at work on the body. The dry mouth is an easy fix and I love this one!!! Close your mouth and gently bite the tip of your tongue.......Do you feel the saliva glands responding by sending glorious moisture to those parched places in the mouth that are dry as the desert? Isn't that a gift from heaven for the dry mouth???? I use that all the time, it's especially effective when you are waiting for your name to be called......

Now about the weak voice....The voice needs two things to operate and function effectively... air and space because it is a wind instrument it needs air and because it is acoustic also it needs space for the sound. If the breath (air) gets weak (which it does when we get nervous), the voice will weaken because of lack of air support. You need to learn how to strengthen your breathing system if you are going to sing. I have been a singer all my life and have taught Voice technique for 16 years. Learning to breathe properly is basic singing 101. There are as many books on the subject as there are voice teachers. Each one has their own personal technique. Mine is called the 3-Dimensional Voice Techniques.

You can visit my web site at joniwilsonvoice.com for more information on me and my method. What ever the technique you choose to use, just be sure that the air flow is as steady as the air that holds up those spinning lottery balls and remember, if the air is shut off, the balls "all fall down!" So goes the voice. Good luck in your singing!

Best to you,
-Joni Wilson

Hi Jane,

This is a very common occurrence among those of us who get up in front of people to speak. We can practice our presentation until we are "letter perfect" but if we don't know how to control the voice, our performance can be a total disaster. Please think of the speaking voice (when it is asked to go above and beyond normal everyday communications,) as a tool or instrument with a definite set of rules for proper usage. First of all the "thing" that governs the steadiness of your voice is the air that it must use to make it work. I always tell my clients to think of a flute, clarinet, trumpet or any WIND instrument. That instrument is only as good as the air the player blows into it. If the air flow is steady, the voice is steady. Picture the lottery balls that spin on top of a pillar of air...if the air is turned off, the balls will all fall down...so goes the voice. If the air flow is shaky and unsteady, the voice is shaky and unsteady.

When we get nervous the tendency is to hyperventilate and breathe from the top of the lung. This causes a "shallow" breath that has no power to steady the voice. When panic sets in, the breathing becomes even "shallower" creating an uneven flow of air and all the 'balls" i.e. words fall down. What to do, What to do? The interesting thing about our voice is, the part of the body that steadies the breath is located at the base of the rectal area. It's called the Pelvic Diaphragm. It is what compresses the air that is pumped from the abdominal diaphragm up the wind pipe to the vocal cords. It is what you use when you cough, sneeze, throw-up and have a baby (Push). it compresses what ever is being projected out from the body . It can power a sneeze at over 100 miles an hour. Most of us are aware that we have one diaphragm that we breath with but are unaware that we have another one that powers the breath that can steady the voice.

I hope I haven't confused you Jane because the good news is, with an understanding of how the voice works you can learn to steady that breath. Please visit my web site at joniwilsonvoice.com for more tips and if you would like more information with exercises to do and diagrams to look at. You can read my book the 3-Dimensional Voice. I wrote the book because of all the voice problems I personally experienced. I love sharing the years of correcting my own vocal frustrations. Best of luck Jane and please don't hesitate to ask me any questions to help you better understand your own voice.

Yours sincerely,
-Joni Wilson

Hi Donna,

Don't ever let anyone tell you stage fright is all in your head. It's in your voice, your nervous system, it creeps into your digestive system and plays havoc with your self esteem when you get up to speak. If it's any comfort 4 out of every five people I work with have stage fright to some degree. There is no magic formula to abolish it, but there ways of dealing with it. The root of stage fright of course is fear. Fear of forgetting your material and looking like a fool... Fear of judgment by others... Fear you might even get sick and pass out.. Fear of loosing control... Fear of the unknown that comes by taking a risk.. or that old parent "Your just not good enough yet!" tape that runs through our brains.

Donna, what is your fear rooted in? If it's not knowing your subject well enough, do your home work and practice, practice practice. For myself, I find that the more confident I am in my subject the less fear I have in my delivery. If you think you might forget you speech, notes and outlines are used by the best of them. I have even written on my fingers with a marking pen that only I can see (I hope).

If it's fear of getting up in front of people, join a Toast Masters Group (Check the Internet or your local phone book).It's very inexpensive to join and very supportive. Some of the best professional speakers start in Toast Masters. The more you speak Donna, the easier it gets. As I am a voice teacher, I am well aware of the shaking voice that takes over when we are scared. One of the best ways to combat that is to learn to breath correctly so you are not hyperventilating. In my Book The 3-Dimensional Voice there are some great exercises that help you control your breath. Your voice is like the lottery balls that spin on top of a column of air... when you turn off the air, the balls all fall . if the air supporting the voice is not strong the voice will also fall. Keeping the breath steady takes skill. As a last result, I have had some extreme cases try hypnosis with some good results. Let me know how your doing and Good Luck Donna.

-Joni

Hi Ronen,

You know the old saying,"Over and above death, public speaking is the #1 fear.".... Well it's usually fear that sends the voice into spasmodic "never, never land." When we stand up in front of people and the heart is beating in our throat, the tendencies is to hyperventilate the breath which causes everything from stuttering to brain "freeze". The bottom line is, the voice operates on air and when the air flow is not steady, the voice is not steady. Like lottery balls held up by a pillar of air, if the air is turned off, the balls all fall down. So goes the voice. If the air is weak, the voice becomes weak and unreliable. Learning to use the entire body to power the breath is the answer. to a strong voice.

The best "cut to the chase" breathing exercise is the "pant like a dog exercise " which is exactly that. Stick your tongue out, put your finger two inches below the sternum (breast bone) to feel the abdominal diaphragm at work and pant. Begin by taking the air in and panting it back out again. If you have a dog, pant it with him (or her) if not, borrow one! Straighten that "pumping action" and you will strengthen the breath that keeps the voice steady. As for eye contact, there is the old "show biz" trick of talking to the tops of the heads of the audience members. Sometimes eye contact makes them more uncomfortable than it makes you. I tell my students to pick three object in the room to focus on. One to the left, one to the right and one smack dab in the middle. If your eyes move from left, to right to middle to left etc. you will include everyone in the room without actual eye contact. It works!!!!

Forgetting what to say is handled by having good outline notes. No one will put you down for using notes. We all do it. Now as for nervousness... The more you face your speaking lion and the better prepared you are the easier it becomes. Join a Toastmasters group and speak, speak, speak! They are all amateur speakers with the same nervousness issues as you and it is a very safe place to practice. Hypnotherapy is a more drastic solution if the problem gets unbearable but it too has had great results. I hope this helps you. I do cover the subject in my book The 3-Dmensional Voice (Shameless plug) and please visit my web site at joniwilsonvoice.com for more tips and hints on the voice. Good luck and let your art "speak for you". The voice will just follow along for the ride.

Best,
-Joni

Hi Joni! I had a few questions for you that I never got answered when I was taking my voice lessons with previous instructors. First of all, for a while, when I sing, my throat gets soar. The soreness is like an irritated soreness. It frustrates me because I have been singing ever since I was nine and it just started about a year ago. I don't know what it is, but it almost makes me not even want to practice because it gets soar after a while. Do you think I could be singing wrong? The next question is, is how come a lot of famous singers, while singing, their jaw quivers? Is that a technique I am suppose to know? Anyway, if you could get back to me when you have the time, I would appreciate it. Also, I hope you don't mind that I e-mail you with questions.

Thanks again, Natalie

Hi Natalie

Yes please, ask me and if I can't give you an answer I'll find an answer for you. First regarding a soar throat... sometimes we mistake soar for uncomfortable muscles learning their skill. I always ask this question.."If you were taking a dance class and stopped dancing at the first sign of muscle discomfort you'd never learn to dance... right? If the soreness keeps up after a couple of practice sessions, it is just incorrect vocal placement usually connected to the vocal cords sitting in that strained swallowing position and not in the relaxed yawn position. Remember, if the larynx is pulling up, the cords think you are swallowing and will shut down tight over the wind pipe to keep you from choking. (Read chapter 3 of the 3-Dimensional Voice under vocal cords.)

Second question...Some singers move their jaw up and down to give vibrato and fullness to the vocal tone....It is very harmful to the voice and that is what caused much of the vocal problems Whitney had. Moderate use of the jaw is OK for effect, but to use the jaw as the only means to vibrate the voice will again put put it into swallow position and the cords will again try to shut down, forcing you to push them open when you sing. Can you see how the two questions are connected? Proper technique should be effortless.... if it hurts, look to your voice technique and change it!!!! Hope this helps Natalie.

Keep Singing,
Joni

Hi Kylie...

OK, to answer a very complex question in simple language let's go back to what the diaphragm is... The diaphragm that lives in the middle of the body (the abdominal Diaphragm) is only a "PUMP' and all it does is pump the air that goes up through the vocal cords...PERIOD!!! it has Nothing to do with singing except for the fact that a steady voice need a steady flow of air. If you keep the air steady, the voice will not wobble. The abdominal diaphragm does not make tone, only the vocal cords can create sound. The abdominal diaphragm also does not power the voice. The source of power is the Pelvic Diaphragm at the base of the rectal area. It is the same power you use when you cough, sneeze, throw-up, cry. It comes from the opposite end of your body away from the vocal cords.. If you have my fist book, the 3-Dimensional Voice, read chapter three "the Big One" and learn "who is doing what" in your vocal process.

As for the Larynx, you want it "down" in a yawn position when you sing...that is a good thing!!! When the larynx comes up into swallow position the vocal cords shut down over the wind pipe to keep you from choking. That is also a good thing for your body but NOT a good thing for singing.
Last in reference to too much air.. a good singing voice needs good steady air to flow on.. to hold back your air will hold back your voice and a voice is projectile...You must project out your air !!!!

Hope this helps . If you are going to sing well, it is vital you know how all of your parts work. I am finishing up the third book in my 5 book series on voice The 3-Dimensional Singers Voice but it won't be out until right before Christmas in the mean time book one will give you what you need to understand the voice whether you are singing or speaking.

Keep on singing Kylie....Joni

Stay in touch... Got a question to share? Contact Joni and send your question, then watch this page for your answer. The questions are updated each month. Thanks for "voicing" your thoughts!

-Joni