Vocal behavior makes a huge impact on your career and your credibility. A successful opera singer will tell you that without exercise, their voice would never become the finely tuned instrument you hear at the Met. The singing voice and spoken voice are actually controlled by two different sides of your brain, but you can find inspiration from opera singers attention to their voice boxes to improve the tone, pitch and quality of your own voice.
When I was a fledgling TV news reporter, I didn’t initially grasp the importance of vocal exercises. But as I began to work with my own voice coach, I saw huge results in the way I came across on camera. My vocal behavior improved and so did my reporting assignments.
Although you’re probably not a broadcast journalist, there are some basic exercises that can really help you improve your vocal performance. Here are my three favorite vocal exercises you can easily insert into your weekly routine:
- The Yawn – That’s right, yawning is a great exercise for your voice. It’s preferable to stand while doing this one. Open your mouth wide, relax your arms and try to yawn the biggest yawn you’ve ever yawned. Don’t worry if you make noises or it causes movement. Eventually you’ll start yawning for real. Yawning will relax your voice box and even “cool” your brain. Yawning is a great exercise prior to a presentation or even if you’re having a busy day and need to find your center.
- The Hiss – Not only is the Hiss an excellent vocal exercise, it’s a great substitute for giving someone the finger if you’re prone to road rage. Stand and plant your feet about shoulder width apart. Fill your lungs and let out a loud hiss noise. Visualize sending this loud hiss across the room, and make it last as long as possible. Eventually you’ll get better at longer, louder hisses. This exercise builds lung capacity and helps with projection. Use it to rebuild energy during a busy day or relieve some tension.
- The Ah-Scale – This one really helps with pitch. Again, stand with feet shoulder width apart and shoulders relaxed. You’ll be saying AH using the highest note on your scale and ending with your lowest note possible. Project your first AH-sound at the highest note you can make. Now, say Aahhhh again but at the next note lower, and continue to do so until you’ve said AH at every note on your scale. This one helps find all the notes available in your spoken voice. Most humans are capable of about sixteen notes. As you venture into these, don’t be discouraged if you’re only able to do five or six. This exercise also helps identify your strongest note and best pitch. The AH-Scale is a good one to record, just to review how you sound.
As you practice these exercises, your vocal behavior will become much stronger. You’ll become more conscious of your voice, your delivery will be more on point, and your energy will be higher. In fact, you’ll be much closer to building your own personal WOW! when it comes to your voice and your career.
