If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll know that the care and feeding of a speaker’s voice is essential for long-term career health.  Your voice is your single most important asset by a number of measures, so it’s important to treat it well.  Obviously, you shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol, especially before speaking.  Obviously, you need to learn how to breath properly, with support, and using the diaphragm.  And obviously, you need to re-position your voice if it’s nasal and audiences don’t find it attractive.     

Good books on the voice are hard to find, and thus it is with real pleasure that I came across this gem in a theatre bookstore in Toronto: Finding Your Voice, by Barbara Houseman.  Barbara has trained many English actors, including greats like Kenneth Branagh, who provides the forward. 

If you’re looking to increase your vocal presence and strengthen the power of your speaking voice, this book is a great place to start.  All the physical exercises you need are explained clearly here, and Houseman gets the importance of the mind-body connection for the voice.  She explains how to release the voice, both physically and mentally, in addition to talking about the long-term care of the voice – and the body that produces it. 

Here’s a quick tip from Houseman’s book on how to ground and center yourself before you start to speak.  Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, and your knees slightly bent.

(Move) your hands away from your body at hip level, as if reaching out underneath (a) beach ball, then bring your arms up round the front of the ball to shoulder level and, then, bring your hands in towards your body and take them down to your hips.  Repeat this backward circle about ten times and then stop and see how that feels.

Apparently, this motion is based on a Tai Chi move, and Houseman recommends it highly for grounding and focusing your energy before speaking. 

The book is filled with exercises and tips for the speaking voice – how to bring it out, how to realize its maximum effectiveness, and how to ensure that it stays strong.  Public speakers should put the wisdom contained in this book in practice today.