How to Strengthen Your Weak Voice

In this video, I am going to share a very simple and quick way to strengthen your weak voice.

The vocal exercises that I am going to share here are not fancy. They are simple exercises that you may already know but they are very effective if you use them in a very specific way. They are suitable for anyone with a weak voice, for people whose voice tires quickly, for people who have trouble projecting their voice or for people who have difficulties sustaining long sounds. 

But before I show you a set of simple exercises, let me explain what is the most important part of strengthening the voice. The key to building a strong and resilient voice is sticking to a routine. I like to use an example of going to the gym. If you want to build a six-pack, you do not go to gym once, or for a week. If you really want to build muscle strength, you need to go to the gym and lift the weights regularly. If you go once a week, you get stronger slowly over a long period of time. If you go three times a week, you will see results faster. But if you go to the gym every day, even for a short time, you will gain muscle strength fairly quickly.

And the same applies to your voice. Doing an exercise once will not do anything for your voice. Regular practice will and the more frequent the exercise, the better results. And I am going to tell you exactly how much and for how long to strengthen your voice. 

If you are experiencing vocal strain, tension or even pain when speaking, and you are ready to work towards a free, strong and confident voice, you can apply to our Vocal Freedom System coaching program. 

The following exercise routine was inspired by so-called vocal function exercises. And if you worked with a local speech-language pathologist before or you’ve gone through voice therapy, then you may be familiar with these exercises. They are simple but very specific sounds that anyone can make and they follow a very strict regime. 

For our purposes, we are going to use any SOVT or semi-occluded vocal tract exercise. You can choose humming or straws or fricatives or nasals. I am going to demonstrate on a sound with a straw but as I said you can hum or do lip trills. It’s your choice. Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises are exercises that have a partial narrowing or occlusion somewhere along the vocal tract. In straw exercises the narrowing is here at the front of the mouth. This setup creates a back pressure that is reflected back at the vocal folds, which helps them vibrate more efficiently. If you have never done straw exercises, then start with a straw that has least resistance, so a short and wide straw.

There is one big rule about the sounds you make. You need to know how to make these sounds in a healthy way. So, basically if you can sustain a sound without pushing, straining, tension or pain, then you are good to go. 

We are going to sustain 5 sounds and do some up and down sirens. By making these sounds, we are strengthening the muscles that bring the vocal folds together and keep them together, we are also strengthening the muscles that stretch the vocal folds and also the muscles that shorten the vocal folds. 

Exercise #1: 5 Different Sounds

First, choose 5 sounds or pitches in your comfortable range. I will go for G to D but of course, you choose a set of 5 notes that is comfortable for you. If you don’t know the names of the notes, don’t worry, just use any 5 sounds in your comfortable range. Now, you are going to sustain each note twice for as long as you comfortably can. Do not push the last bit of breath at the end of each note. Are you ready? Let’s do it together. I will start with G.

Exercise #2 Sirens 

Now, let's do a few sirens through a straw. Do not push too hard through the straw. It is a gentle sound, a small sound. If you push too hard, you can create tension and we don’t want that. Also, you don’t need to go too high in your range. Keep it in your comfortable range. With this exercise, we are strengthening the muscles responsible for lengthening and shortening the vocal folds. Are you ready? A siren in your comfortable range.

Ok. But as I said the most important part of strengthening exercises is a regular routine. So, how often and how long should you do these exercises? The whole routine with exercise #1 and #2 takes less than 10 minutes. You noticed that we did each exercise twice. 

Now, you want to repeat this 10 minute routine twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon or in the evening. It’s 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes later in the day. Every day. If you really stick to this schedule, you should see results in a couple of weeks. 

That’s it. No fancy exercises, no need for audio tracks. Just simple exercises done every day. 

Here is a video that demonstrates all of the above exercises: 

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/-ND3EI6aaiY