Do you feel annoyed because your voice is too small as a whisper and makes everybody else ask again and again what you just said?
Do you feel annoyed when someone shows displeasure that your voice is too loud and makes noise?
Do you feel annoyed that although you prepared your speech carefully, you can’t present it smoothly and coherently?
Those things apparently affect the way you communicate, even when you have a 1-1 conversation or speak to a crowd. After many years of research and practice, I developed for myself a voice exercise, it’s called “VOICE CONTROL”. Today, I will share with a person who is having this problem based on that method.
Besides, a plus for this exercise is it not only helps us to control the volume well but also develops the focus ability.
Let’s prepare equipment before starting:
- An earphone (The more soundproof you have, the better)
- The music player can connect to the earphone (iPod, mobile phone,…)
- List of your favorite songs (vary songs from soft music to dynamic music)
- A friend (this method only can do when you a friend, call he/she is X)
Are you ready?
First, print a short paragraph (you can write it) from 10 to 15 sentences, about any topic you are interested in. And right now, you try to remember the paragraph content, then give this paragraph to X and see if X understands this paragraph.
Next, put on the earphone and play music as loud as possible, then X uses the music player. The role of X is to pause and play the music whenever X wants, the purpose is to distract you as much as possible. You have to focus on your speech, parallelly keep your voice in the normal intensity like when you are talking to everyone else – not too loud or too small.
This exercise focuses on using the volume of the music player to make you hard to identify your voice if you are screaming or whispering. The questions about your voice will make you distracted and can’t focus on what you are saying when wearing earphones. It’s okay, you keep on saying until you finish your paragraph. Then, ask X to comment on those points:
- When your voice is best and not good at which part?
- Which part do you scream or whisper?
- Do you look natural or confident when speaking?
- Is your speech good and smooth?
- Did you use eye contact with X when speaking?
- …
The next step, continue practicing with that paragraph (or the new one) with that friend. This time, X is in the role of the remote that adjusts the volume. Specifically, when recognize you speak too loud, X will give a signal to notify you to lower your voice and reduce the volume, or when you are constraining your voice because you are afraid of speaking too loud, at that moment, you are whispering, people around can’t hear you, X will give a signal to notify you are speaking too small and need to increase the volume. When you keep your voice at the right level according to X, X will give a signal to notify you are doing well and you are trying to maintain that level when practicing. Increase and reduce signals when practicing with X are agreed by you two to make sure you understand the message from X, then can have a suitable adjustment.
Maybe you will question if the music is too loud and will badly affect your hearing. It’s true and I also recommend you not to listen to too loud music for a long period and rapidly. It’s not good for your ears. So how about the VOICE CONTROL method I guild, please pay attention carefully the practice rules:
- Practice 4-5 times/day, 20-30 minutes/time
- Take 5-10 minutes break between every 10 minutes practice
- Practice sessions are 2 hours or more apart (it’s up to your free time)
Although practicing with loud volume, but if you do it the right way and have the right break time, you will keep your hearing and your health safe. And I think if you practice this method correctly, you will see a huge change in your voice within a month.
Like every skill, you have to practice for a long period to truly see the positive change, especially in your voice. Therefore, find yourself a friend and start practicing. Even I had to research and find for more than a year in many different methods to improve my voice, and I found this VOICE CONTROL method, and practiced in the next 6 months to master the method, got used to changes and adjusted my voice as I wanted.
Good luck!
H.D
