Are You Heard When You Speak?
Are you always heard when you speak? There are many people who wish to project their voice more to be better understood. In fact, many executives both male and female, ask me why others have a hard time hearing them and what they can do to project their voice."
There are two primary reasons that a voice can lack loudness:
1) Inadequate breath support
2) Inadequate mouth opening
First, an inability to project comes from inadequate breath support we’ve talked about . The vocal cords need to be supported by the muscular action of the diaphragm. Since our vocal cords vibrate because of the air we force from our lungs, it is a simple matter of forcing more airstream. Many people take inadequate breaths. If you would like to learn more about breath support, go to the podcast on my site that covers this skill in more detail. This skill can be developed so that you are using good breath support even while talking.
The second reason some people don't project well is because they don't open their mouth wide enough when they speak. There are native English speakers and non-native speakers who have learned to barely open their mouth when they speak. The mouth opening is more clenched.
If you think of your vocal tract as a megaphone that begins at the small opening of the vocal cords and opens up wider and wider so that your mouth is the end of the megaphone, the wider the mouth opening, the better the sound will carry out of your mouth.
