What are some vocal exercises or warm-ups that you do before a speech?

There's a powerful exercise called Floppy Tongue. Stick out your tongue past your lips and relax it. Keep it there for about three minutes until you start salivating heavily. Feel free to talk or say the alphabet with your tongue out. This will stop you from stuttering on stage and dramatically improve your breathing.

The key: Imagine breathing out your nerves. And breathing in confidence. It's a simple method. But trust me, it works. Practice deep breathing before going on stage. Create silence before the storm. This is how you reduce stress. Get your focus. And stabilise your voice. - Close your eyes. If only for a few seconds. - Take long, slow breaths. - Concentrate on the rhythm of your breathing. ?? And now again, the key: - Now imagine breathing out your nerves. And breathing in confidence. Do you feel it?

I must say there is a huge contribution by Yogic Breathing Exercises. Deep Breathing is one of them. Close your eyes and take 2-3 long, slow and deep breaths. It calms down your mind and keeps you focused while delivering speech.

Be aware that your body is your instrument and your breath is delivering your voice packed with emotions. So warm up your body by moving around, flapping your arms around you. You can take a stroll. Stretch, roll your shoulders. Relaxing your body is all about subtle movement. Also look at your shoes, ladies - high heels may be feminine but they unbalance the body which will have an immediate effect on the sound of your voice

The technique of deep breathing is optimal, you have to feel the breath mainly in two points, the lungs and the diaphragm, it is also a form of meditation, and lowers the stress indexes. When you breathe deeply as an automatism, the muscles relax naturally and the cardiac beat decreases. Another technique is the square breathing based on symmetry.

Hydrate with room-temperature water, but moderate your intake to avoid frequent bathroom trips or discomfort during your speech. Avoid tea, coffee—particularly coffee, as it can dehydrate your throat and heighten nervousness—and steer clear of soda, juice, or anything with sugar, acidity, or stimulants. These can coat your throat, impeding your natural voice and breath control. Also, eat sensibly; neither an empty nor an overly full stomach is advisable, as both can complicate diaphragmatic breathing, which is essential for steady airflow and vocal projection.

In general - keep your throat moist with room-temperature water. This should be a routine - not a special effect before a speech. Tipps about avoiding coffee, sugar, dairy-products, fruit etc have already been written. I recommend avoiding the intake about 2-3 hours before your speech begins. In everyday life, you may find that some beverages and food work for you better others don't. This is an individual issue so find out what is good for your vocal chords and what dries them up. Use the general recommendations as a guideline to do this but not as your personal rule. E.g. it is said that fruit and almonds before a speech will be bad for the vocal chords. Apples & almonds are a perfect snack before my speeches & don't harm my voice at all.

To keep the throat hydrated there are various possible lines to follow, obviously drinking plenty of fluids helps, hot drinks often have a calming effect but avoiding tea and coffee. Increase the humidity of the air, keep the temperature of the environment under control, use your voice with care, herbal candies such as mallow which has a soothing action on the mucous membrane, a hot shower, keep your neck warm and try to avoid stress.

Always warm up your vocal chords before a speech! Here are some tips I love to share with my speaker coaching clients: 1. In a private space, prior to your engagement, sing the ABCs out loud three times. Practice getting louder and louder as you sing. 2. Stretch your vocal chords, without straining them. Sing the vowels: Long A, short A, long E, short E, etc. Do this exercise two-three times. 3. Practice your diction using tongue twisters! 4. Manage your pace. So many people speak too quickly. Practice slowing down to what may feel like an uncomfortable pace. 5. Exaggerate your mouth movement. This one is fun! Choose a phrase and speak in front of a mirror while exaggerating your tongue, lips, and jaw movements.

Warm up your voice AND your heart and mind by SINGING. Seriously :-) Do some car-karaoke (is that car-aoke?) to your favourite upbeat or power songs on your way to the gig. Or before you leave home. That will get your vocal chords warm and more importantly, will get you into your joy and out of your head.

Warming Up of your vocal chords should be part of your daily routine, not just a one-timer before a speech. Sounding consonants (like p-t-k, ffff-t, sch-t) activates your diaphragm and keeps up natural breathing during your speech And then train your vocal chords regularly with humming, variations of lip(!) vibrations then sound vowels with supporting movements.

The vocal warm-up can be considered as a stretching that prepares and lengthens the phonatory muscles, preserving them from possible trauma.The best way to warm up the voice is to use it without forcing it.Practical tips to maintain relaxation and elasticity of the jaw are useful as cheek massages. Vocal warm-up also works very well with exercises that consist of emitting the nose instead of the mouth, keep breathing active, care the diaphragm and testing various series of consonants.

In my acting life, it's important to keep myself open to a wide range of points of view, intonations, and delivery of the script. To practice this, I often do several of the following exercises before taping an audition, and before a shoot: - Rehearse the script in an accent - Rehearse in a higher pitch or lower pitch than my natural voice - Sing the script - Practice emphasizing different words or phrases - Improv the scene for 1-2 minutes before starting the scripted part These are all fun, effective ways to avoid getting "locked in" to one way of delivering your material!

The best critic unfortunately is yourself, especially in hearing the way one speaks, but vocal recordings are a great way to hear how you pronounce phrases and discover transitional sentences. Be sure to share with peers or even leaders to help find suggestions for improving the strength of your speech.

I have an early morning Saturday radio show and on my way veeeery early in the morning, I always do the same exercises. (1) I start with my lips - pursing and puckering them until they are warmed up; (2) my tongue is next and I touch every tooth separately with my tongue; (3) I then vocalize through my vowels with different consonants i.e. ma, me, mi, me, mo; pa, pe, pi, pe, po etc.

60 mins before your speech, preserve your voice: avoid shouting, consuming spicy or sweet foods, and limit phone conversations to under 5 minutes. Give both your voice and mind a rest, steering clear of noisy environments. If feasible, spend 20-30 minutes alone, or at least take 10 minutes for regular diaphragmatic breathing exercises to hydrate your throat, vocal cords, and lungs. Listening to music can also help soothe your nerves and focus your concentration. If you find it challenging to follow most of these suggestions, prioritize performing full diaphragmatic breathing exercises five times before stepping onto the stage. Seriously avoid spicy or sweet food to ensure you're in the best condition to deliver your speech.

Giving a speech is like running a sprint. You have to do your preparations carefully and then cool down after your speech. The latter cannot always be done straight away as the audience tends to ask questions. Nevertheless, drink room-temperature water after your speech, listen attentively to the questions (this gives resting time to your vocal chords) and answer in a calm tone. You could also warm your throat by putting on a shawl or simply rubbing your palms before putting them araound your throat.

Stretch your body, limbs, neck, and shoulders. It's common to feel nervous before a speech, as stress can accumulate throughout the body. In addition to exercises for your throat, vocal cords, and voice, focus on relaxing your entire body. This helps signal to your brain that you're letting go of tension, empowering your mind in the process. By easing your body into a state of relaxation, you'll find yourself sounding more confident and natural, allowing your true self to shine through as you speak.

To improve clarity in speaking, an exercise that works well for me is to read some lines in a book / article backwards. When we read in the reverse order, we are forced to pronounce each word. Over time we become aware and conscious in articulating our words better.

Set-up a daily routine and exercises including body movement, breath and diaphragm exercises with consonants, sound vowels - in this order. 5 minutes are enough if done daily. You will enhance the health and flexibility of your vocal chords. After that practise some lines. (also daily) Reading an article backwards is a great idea. You could also start by reading a few lines at lout at first glance (- no silent reading beforehand !!!) - It will sound awkward at first but you will improve on many vocal levels very quickly. Be gentle in your exercises! Doing too much can harm your vocal chords.