If you’re like most, the last thing on your mind right before speaking in front of a large audience is Public Speaking Vocal Exercises.
Seriously…. At this point, you’re probably trying to cram all the information you can from your presentation into your brain or worse you’re trying to hold down your breakfast/lunch/dinner …whatever….due to the excessive amount of nerves you have going on.
But I’m here to tell you, relaxing your voice is essential if you want to sound confident and in control. An unrelaxed voice can ruin your next presentation by making you speed talk or worse...sound harsh! So do yourself a favor and take 15 minutes before your next big presentation and run down these 3 Public Speaking Vocal Exercises that I personally do before every presentation.
Mellow Out Man!
First things first, you’re going to want to relax those vocal chords, jaw, lips you name it! Your throat is an instrument so you want to make sure you give it a proper warm up. Begin with opening your jaw and at the same time producing aha sound, start off with a 3-second ha and gradually work your way up to 10 seconds. Repeat this 7 to 10 times.
Once you have that out the way start working out your jaw muscles. Make the motion as if you were to yawn and then proceed to bite air….I know this may seem silly but trust me it will help relax your jaw enough to get you through what I assume will be a lengthy presentation.
Woooh!! Not So Loud!
Start off by taking a deep breath and exhaling while at the same time producing a hissing sound. Try to hold this hissing sound for 5 seconds and repeat 10 times.
Next, we’ll want to start working on our volume control. Choose any vowel sound and gradually raise your volume from soft to medium to loud. Example: ah…ah…ah. Repeat this process 10 times varying between soft to loud and loud to soft.
Tongue Twisters!
One of my favorite exercises to do before any presentation is a good ole’ fashioned tongue twister. As a native New Yorker born and raised in Brooklyn, New York I tend to butcher the spoken English language from time to time. Don’t believe me? Then check out this hilarious Brooklyn Translator.
Going over a few tongue twisters before your next presentation can help develop clearer speech. My personal favorites? “The Woodchuck”, “Peter Piper” and “I saw Susie” tongue twisters. If you’re looking for a list of awesome tongue twisters make sure to check this out….. Killer Tongue Twisters!
So now what?
If you’ve taken the time to practice the above pointers then you should be physically ready to wow your audience (that is of course if you’ve properly prepared your material and have been able to control those nerves!).
For all other Public Speaking obstacles, you can always reach out to us here at Rule the Room. We have been helping individuals such as yourself reach new heights in their personal and professional lives for quite some time now. Until next time keep those jaws, throat, and lips loose and let rip!
