How to maintain a healthy voice

From all the tips and advice I researched, these are the 10 ways that I believe are the most important in helping to maintain a healthy voice:

1. Warm up your voice.

Make sure you always warm up your voice before use. This can be as simple as gently gliding from low to high notes on different vowel sounds or doing lip or tongue trills every morning and night. It is also very important to warm up your jaw when using your voice. You can do this by pretending to yawn, over exaggerating the movement of the mouth when pronouncing vowel sounds and/or massaging the back and underneath of the jaw and surrounding muscles gently using the tips of your fingers.

2. Keep yourself hydrated.

You should aim to drink around eight 8 - ounce glasses of water or other non alcoholic, non caffeinated drinks per day. The vocal cords vibrate very fast, and having a proper water balance helps to keep them lubricated. Therefore, foods containing large amounts of water make excellent snacks as they help to keep you hydrated. For example; apples, pears, watermelon, peaches, melons, grapes, plums, cucumber and peppers.

3. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and dairy.

Alcohol is extremely dehydrating, especially hard liquor. Ideally you should stay away from alcohol of any kind for 2 - 3 days prior to performing. Likewise, caffeine also has a negative effect on the vocal chords as it dehydrates you throat and stimulates the production of phlegm. This is often made worse by the fact that the caffeine being consumed is through tea and coffee which both also contain milk; a dairy product. Dairy products such as milk and cheese coat your vocal chords with mucus which closes up the vocal passage making it much harder to speak and project to your full potential. Therefore all of the above should be avoided for at least a few hours minimum before a performance, however the recommended length of time is three days.  

4. Be kind to your voice.

Avoid yelling or screaming these are abusive practises for your voice and put great strain on the lining of your vocals cords.Likewise, you should avoid clearing your throat too often or unnecessarily. This is because when you clear your throat, it's like slamming your vocal cords together. Doing it too much can injure them and make you hoarse. If you feel like you have to clear your throat, try taking a sip of water or swallowing to quench the urge instead.

5. Relax your muscles.

In regards to taking good care of your voice, it is also very important to keep your throat and neck muscles relaxed throughout both the rehearsal and performance processes. For example, it is not good practise to tilt your head up on high notes and down on low notes as this causes stress and tension to the muscles, rather than relaxation. Likewise, if the rest of the muscles in your body are relaxed, it's easier for you throat to too, therefore it might be a good idea to participate in warm up exercises for your whole body which will help it get into that ideal relaxed state, ready to perform.

6. Don't smoke.

Not only does smoking raise the risk of laryngeal (voice box) and throat cancer tremendously, inhaling smoke, even secondhand smoke can also cause irritation and inflammation of the vocal chords that can lead to your voice becoming unhealthily husky, hoarse and weak.

7. Support your breathing.

Breath flow is the power for you voice. Take time to fill your lungs before starting to talk and don't wait until you are almost out of air before taking another breath to power your voice.

8. Rest your voice.

Make sure that you allow yourself regular "vocal naps" every day, especially during periods of extended use.

9. Consider amplification where possible.

When you have to perform speak publicly, to large groups, particularly outdoors, think about using amplification such as a microphone to lessen the strain on your voice.

10. Listen to your voice.

When your voice is complaining to you, listen to it. If your throat feels dry or tired, or your voice is getting hoarse this is a warning sign that your vocal cords are irritated. Know that this means you need to modify and decrease your voice use in order to allow them to recover. When you're sick, spare your voice. Pushing your voice when it is already hoarse can lead to severe problems. Listen to what your voice is telling you.

Angelique Rodrigues