One of the really "fun" things about aging, especially for a woman, is that there are changes in the way we speak.

As a woman ages, her voice becomes softer, and it is more difficult to project. Yes, microphones help; however, there is still a loss of "oomph"!
Often, older women sound ineffective and don't have the power behind their words that is often needed.

Many of us would welcome your suggestions!

Thank you.

Here are a few tips for using your voice

The average person simply projects their voice all wrong!

Imagine this

Try this: Imagine yourself in a large hall full of people, and you need to be heard without a microphone. Now speak to them. You will probably find yourself shouting or nearly shouting, pushing your voice hard from your throat out into the room in an effort to reach the audience. What you should be doing is just the opposite. You should be taking your sound “UP AND IN” to your body instead of pushing out. This will create a voice that is richer and less shrill with almost no vocal wear and tear. Your voice will carry, not from getting loud, but from getting more resonant. It is as different as screaming and singing. The first is noise, the latter, MUSIC!

Take a deep breath!

No, really, TAKE A DEEP BREATH!
If you are like most people you probably are not breathing deeply enough to support a truly winning voice. Think about this.
When your doctor places a stethoscope on your chest and says, “Take deep Breath,” does your chest heave up and fill out? Now this may come as a surprise but if you, like most people, answered yes, you are NOT getting a deep breath. Deep breath comes from the diaphragm opening, so it is your gut area that should be dramatically expanding when you breathe and not your chest. Since breath is the essential fuel for a winning voice we want as much as we can get.
So, let’s get it!

Got a cold?

Don't take a decongestant if you plan on using your voice. Decongestants are designed to dry up mucous and they do not care where the mucous lives. Because the vocal cords survive in a mucous atmosphere, if anything dries up that precious mucous, the cords will also dry up, affecting the voice "Big Time."


Fancy a coffee

Do drink herbal teas and warm liquids to pump-up those tired vocal cords. Avoid ANYTHING with caffeine in it. Your precious cords need moisture and caffeine dehydrates.

Written by Simon Cannon, Professional Voice

http://www.professionalvoice.co.uk/

I regularly have to make 3-5 minute contributions on conference calls and get extremely nervous about this. Sometimes I don't even feel able to contribute even a couple of sentences in meetings.

I've tried the deep breathing referred to above, but I find that it makes me feel light-headed. Light-headedness is something that I occasionally suffer from due to having very low blood pressure, and it can cause me to feel dizzy - not good in meetings. Am I perhaps doing the deep breathing incorrectly if it is making me feel light-headed?

One thing which I have found to help is to force yawns before speaking - this helps to open the vocal cords I guess and relaxes the muscles in that area. Unfortunately, it can of course give out the wrong message in a meeting!

I would appreciate any input anyone has on this.