Anchoring: VO: Breathing

Breathing and Vocal Variety

Ideally, you want your content to align with your delivery method and both to align with the sound of your voice.  Vocal variety is all about the sound of the voice and, in this case, that vocal image is created through several aspects of your sound, including pace, pitch, pause, and power.

Pace

Pace is the speed of your delivery. In general, for vocal variety you are encouraged to vary your pace by speeding up and slowing down appropriately for the message you are delivering. However, some people have trouble with pacing due to poor breathing. If you speak too quickly, or if your speaking is labored or too slow, consider the following:

“Vary your pace by speeding up and slowing down appropriately for the message you are delivering.”

§  Speaking too fast is often the result of not stopping to breathe often enough.
Solution: To slow down your speaking with the breath, consciously take a breath before you begin. Remember to stop and breathe between ideas. The next time you practice a presentation, take time to inhale and exhale deeply five times before you start to speak. Then take one more deep breath and exhale vigorously into your first words.

§  Speaking too slowly can also be caused by not taking in and using enough air.
Solution: Not using enough air can cause a person to sound dull and lifeless. This may also be caused by poor posture. Practice the breathing technique above, paying special attention to posture. Be sure you move that air with the abdominal muscles as you speak. Overdo the latter when you practice so you really feel the breath in the sound. By breathing deeper and then using all the air in your sound, you create a more energetic sound and you feel more energized, too.

Pitch

Pitch is determined by the notes we use when we speak. Yes, we use notes when speaking just as we do for singing. Speaking notes, however, are random, informally ordered, and usually of shorter duration than notes we sing. To create vocal variety, one uses different pitches to make their sound more interesting.  Sometimes problems with creating variety in pitch can be the result of poor breathing technique. Here are two such problems, their likely causes, and some ways to fix them:

§  A voice that is too high-pitched and thin can be the result of shallow breathing (without abdominal expansion and support).
Solution: The solution to shallow breathing is to relax the abdomen and drop the air in lower. This also relaxes the larynx so it doesn’t ride so high. A high larynx can create a higher, thinner sound.

§  If your voice sounds squeezed or strained, or too low, you may not be using all the air you take in.

§  Pause

“Awareness of breathing makes for natural pauses.”

When speaking, pauses are the golden silences that allow your listeners to take in what you are saying. They are the “beats” an actor uses between phrases; they are that special something that leads to “comedic timing.” Importantly, pauses also give us time to breathe.

Here’s how to apply breathing to your pauses:

§  Breathe before speaking your first words.

Taking that first breath allows you to align everything physically, mentally, and emotionally. It also allows your larynx to be stimulated but relaxed. And finally, it gets the oxygen flowing so that you can think more clearly and look your best.

§  Be aware of your breathing.

It is amazing to see how many people simply forget to breathe when they are in front of an audience. As you may have experienced, nerves can play a big part in forgetting to breathe and feeling out of breath. So the short term solution to this is to pause and breathe!  The long-term solution, however, is to practice being aware of your breathing all day long. Awareness of breathing makes for natural pauses. The more you practice, the more likely it is you’ll remember to breathe when you’re speaking in public.

Power

A common misconception about Power is that it is the same thing as volume.  The truth is that vocal power is so much more than how loud you are. Vocal power is all about the impact your sound has on others. Your personal vocal power may be found in the tone of your sound or in how you phrase a thought.  Many people are surprised to learn that power can be heightened or lessened by how they breathe and how they use their breath.

§  Sound moves on air, so you need to have air to get a powerful sound.  You can speak loudly, but if you aren’t incorporating that air into your sound, you will be shouting. Your impact on others may be quite different than you intended! In addition, keeping the air moving with the sound allows for wonderful control of your voice so that you can use all of your vocal variety techniques more effectively.

§  A powerful speaker is one who is relaxed and comfortable. A powerful voice is relaxed and comfortable. Breathing deeply relaxes the larynx so the voice can settle into a comfortable, natural sound rather than one that is contrived or forced.

The Effect of Breath on Voice and Speech

The voice is responsive to emotions and sometimes gets 'blocked', which can prevent or hinder the expression of a range of feelings.

However, it is possible to use physical exercise to help produce a more flexible voice, in the same way that people who use vocal sounds professionally take lessons, to ensure that their voices are kept in a versatile condition and ready to vocalise a range of sounds.

It is common knowledge how much breathing affects how a voice sounds. Singers must use deep breathing in order to project a strong voice across a crowded auditorium to reach every single person in the audience.

The ability to harness your breath is one of the most important, and least taught, areas within public speaking. It’s critical when you’re speaking up in a meeting, and it’s crucial when you’re giving a speech or presentation. It’s one of the key elements of executive presence.

So how do you harness the power of breathing in order to speak with confidence and power?

Start with the right posture

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, weight equally distributed, and raise your arms up over your head. Breathe in deeply. Now as you exhale, slowly lower your arms down to your sides and keep your ribcage where it is. Make sure your shoulders are back, not hunched up behind your ears. This is the best posture for speaking (and singing); you are standing tall, you are owning your full height, and you are resonating confidence.

Breathe deeply

Put one hand on your belly button and one hand on your chest. Breathe in deeply, noticing which hand moves. Lot of people breathe while heaving their chest up and down, but keep your chest steady and think about breathing into your stomach as you take in breath. Then exhale slowly, like letting air out of a balloon.

Having difficulty?

Try “wall sits” – when you lean against a wall with your back flat against the wall and your legs slightly bent. This position helps you focus on your abdomen while breathing, instead of moving your chest. Disclaimer: if you feel light-headed or dizzy, stop this exercise and breathe normally. It shouldn’t hurt – it should simply feel different.

Speak “on the breath”

Once you take in that full breath, you might not know what to do with it. Instead of holding it in, use that breath to support your words, letting it out steadily while you are speaking.

When you speak, practise exhaling slowly while speaking and letting your voice resonate with a full, supported sound. First, practise exhaling while slowly counting: “1.2.3.4.5.” and then practise exhaling on the words, “Hello, my name is [your name].” Practise with a smartphone or a partner. It’s much easier for others to hear the change in your voice than it is for you to hear it yourself.

How often should you breathe? At the very least, at the end of every sentence! If you are prone to rushing through your speech or presentation, then practise breathing at every punctuation mark – it will force you to slow down.