You are mentally and physically prepared to give your big speech — but is your voice ready? When it comes to public speaking, many fear their voice cracking, poor enunciation or being either too loud or quiet. 

With that said, the best way to get your voice ready to present that speech you’ve been working so hard on is to exercise it.

It can be daunting to have to both prepare the perfect visual presentation and deliver an impactful speech — which is why it’s helpful to concentrate on one and get some assistance with the other! 

When you work with a presentation design agency to help you create an aesthetic presentation, you can put more time into perfecting your speech delivery. 

The thing is, if you fail to prepare yourself — and your voice — for your presentation, it can discredit what you’re saying. For example, according to Business Insider, not doing vocal exercises can leave you feeling unprepared — which can result in what’s called “upspeak.” This is when you emphasize certain words to make it sound like you’re asking a question. 

If you want to speak clearly with conviction, it’s a good idea to take the time to prepare your body and voice for your speech.

Regardless how silly you may feel, try your hand at some vocal exercises to help get your voice ready to give that speech:

Lie on the Floor 

A good way to prepare your voice for a presentation is to practice breathing – and the best way to practice breathing is to lie on the floor and breathe naturally. This helps to massage your jaw and open up your voice so that you can project your voice clearly. 

According to Psychology Today, when public speaking, it’s best to speak from your diaphragm — and this will help you access your diaphragm voice. 

Humming

Hum your favourite song, hum a beat — whatever suits your fancy. Humming actually gives your body the sensation of buzzing. This helps you to speak from your entire body and not just one part like your head or your nose. 

Scales

It turns out, Julie Andrews was on to something in The Sound of Music — you can prevent your voice from cracking by doing scales. In other words, practice “do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do” a few times for tonal pitch and to get those vocal cords exercised. You can always challenge yourself by doing the scales backwards. This won’t only help your vocals but will help you to focus on something else and can be meditative and relaxing in a way. 

Move Your Tongue in Your Mouth

Tension can build in your tongue, making it feel heavy — this can make it harder to speak clearly. Moving your tongue around in your mouth will help to loosen and relax your vocals. Move your tongue around and try to recite your speech to help the dialect feel natural. 

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are a great way to help you to slow down and concentrate on what you’re saying. They will help you to enunciate and better pace your speech too! 

“Sally sells sea shells on the sea shore” and “how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” are both classic twisters that may leave you giggling but will definitely help prepare you for your speech.