Mastering Your Voice on Zoom: Strength Training for Better Sound

Welcome back to the second part of our series, "Zoom Your Voice," where we continue our journey through the intricate mechanisms of vocal production and how your voice can sound better. In the first installment, we delved into the fundamental aspects of voice: respiration and articulation. I shared how you can strengthen your voice with proper breathing and how your articulators shape speech and help you project your voice. Now, let’s shift focus to the captivating world of resonation and phonation. Mastering these elements can unlock the potential for an extraordinary vocal presence, enabling you to articulate your thoughts with unparalleled strength and clarity.

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Resonance and phonation are two essential pillars shaping the allure and impact of your voice. Resonation, the art of harnessing various body cavities to enrich sound, and phonation, the vibration of vocal folds producing speech, are at the heart of a compelling voice. Let’s explore how specific techniques, exercises, and warm-ups can elevate your voice to new heights, commanding attention and fostering profound connections with your audience.

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Operation Improve Your Resonance: Creating Richness in Your Voice

Resonation plays a huge role in projecting a warm and engaging voice. It is the key to connecting with others. Resonance is what makes heads turn when you speak and draws people to you. The sound of your voice moves air and thereby can move people. When you speak with a strong resonant voice, you can feel it in your body and if you can feel your body resonating with sound, then others can feel it too.

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Resonation involves utilizing various cavities in your body to generate sound and amplify what is produced by the vocal folds. There are five major cavities in your body that help you produce a resonant voice:? the chest cavity, nasal, sinus, buccal (mouth), and pharyngeal cavity (back of the throat) are all instrumental in producing resonance. These cavities act as amplifiers or resonators, enhancing the quality, richness, and volume of the sound produced by your vocal folds. So to improve resonance in the voice, focus attention on improving the function of each of these cavities for optimal vocal production and amplification.

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Here’s how sound resonates in the body’s cavities:

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Chest Cavity:? The largest resonating chamber, amplifies the lower frequencies of your voice, creating depth and warmth.

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Nasal and Sinus Cavities:? The easiest to hear and distinguish. In addition to giving your voice space to resonate, they also filter, warm, and moisten the air we breathe. You recognize these sounds most when air is blocked or restricted in the nasal passages like when you have a cold or are congested. Mucous blocks the nasal and sinus cavities changing the way you breathe and the sound of your voice. The slightest of blockages in airflow change vocal resonance and can affect the overall tonal quality of your voice because the shape of the sinus and nasal cavities have changed.

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Pharyngeal Cavity:? Located at the back of the throat, this cavity shapes and channels the sound waves as they move up and toward the mouth and nasal passages.

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Buccal Cavity:? Your mouth shapes and modifies sound. By moving your jaw, lips, and tongue you are changing the shape of your mouth. Sound is altered before it’s projected outward so that others can hear you.

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When these five cavities are utilized effectively to produce a resonant voice, you gain incredible control over the placement, richness, and tonal quality of your voice. Exercises, adjustments to your posture, and breath control can help optimize the use of your cavities for unbelievable vocal resonance.

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To improve resonation here are a few exercises that will help you create more resonance in each of the chest, nasal, sinus, pharyngeal and buccal cavities mentioned.

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Tip #1: Humming

Humming acts as an excellent exercise to promote nasal, sinus, and chest resonance. This warm up allows sound coming from vibrating vocal folds to lower in frequency, which makes your voice deeper and richer. Take a deep breath in from the lower body, relax the neck, shoulders, and upper body and hum any tune, allowing the sound to resonate within your chest cavity. Keep your throat and mouth relaxed taking note of the vibration as you hum and feel the vibration created in your throat, chest and lips. This practice enhances vocal warmth and richness effortlessly.

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Tip #2: Lip Trills

It’s like blowing bubbles under water. Take a nice deep lower body breath and as you exhale, allow your lips to vibrate freely creating a "brrrrr" sound. This exercise warms up the articulators while allowing sound to resonate in the buccal, nasal, and sinus cavities. It’s another easy way to enhance resonance in these cavities

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Tip #3: Yawning

Embrace the yawn! Maybe you just yawned at the thought of yawning. As you release the air at the end of a yawn, vocalize a low and relaxed "ahhhh" feeling the vibration in your chest. Yawning relaxes the body and releases the chest, pharyngeal and buccal cavities. These areas are able to open and freely resonate without any tension.

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Tip #4: Nasal Resonance Awareness

Say the word 'sing' taking note of how the sound resonates in your nasal passages. Gently squeeze the nostrils closed, say the word ‘sing’ again and notice the difference in resonance. Alternating between saying the word ‘sing’ with your nostrils open, then closed, will allow you to feel how air moves freely and then is stopped. This clearly changes the sound of your voice. Enhancing resonation in your nasal and sinus cavities warms and deepens your voice.

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Good resonance stems from proper breath control. Understanding how the chest, nasal, sinus, pharyngeal, and buccal cavities help with vocal resonance can enable you to make changes to the sound of your voice. It can help you refine the quality and projection of the your voice whether for performance or professional presentations.

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Operation Phonation: Strengthening Vocal Fold Vibration

Vibrating vocal folds in your larynx are the source of sound. It’s called phonation.? In this section, we highlight the vocal folds. Here are a few exercises to enhance phonation.

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Tip #1: Gentle Siren-ing or Pitch Glides

Gently changing the pitch of your voice with siren-like vocalizations will help warm up your vocal folds. Start at a comfortable pitch and then gently glide up to a higher pitch, hold the tone, and then glide back down. The goal is to sound like a siren moving up and down on one breath of air. Increasing the pitch slowly and then lowering it smoothly aids in developing vocal fold flexibility and strength.

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Tip #2: Hydration for Optimal Phonation

Make sure you’re drinking enough water every day. Getting and staying hydrated is not only good for your overall health, it supports strong phonation. To calculate how much water you need to get and stay hydrated, divide your body weight in half. This is the minimum number of ounces you should drink daily. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you need to drink at least 75 ounces every day. Avoid dehydration at all costs because it can really cause problems with your voice – especially the vocal folds, larynx (voice box) and throat. Stay away from drinks that are dehydrating like caffeine and alcohol. It’s critical for good vocal health.

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Tip #3: Relaxation Techniques

Excessive tension is the enemy of a good healthy voice. Relieve tension in the neck, throat, and shoulders to ease stress on the larynx. One of the easiest ways to do this is by gently pushing the lower jaw forward, which immediately relaxes the neck and shoulders. It’s automatic. Massaging the neck and shoulders can also alleviate tension and enhance vocal clarity.

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Conclusion

To master your voice, resonation and phonation are key to great vocal production. Through the exploration of five cavities in your body and vocal fold vibration, we’ve uncovered the secrets to unlocking a resonant, powerful voice that leaves a lasting impact.

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Remember, resonation involves the chest, nasal, sinus, buccal, and pharyngeal cavities, acting as the conduit for warmth and depth in your voice. On the other hand, phonation, emanating from the vibrating vocal folds, demands care, hydration, and relaxation to fortify its strength and flexibility.

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As you work toward refining your voice, incorporate these exercises into your day, and witness the transformation they bring. Strengthening resonance and fortifying phonation enhances your vocal skills and amplifies your ability to communicate with unparalleled conviction and authenticity.

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Stay tuned for our next installment as we look into other vocal intricacies in the realm of the spoken human voice. There is power in your voice, so nurture it, refine it, and let it resonate with the world.

Check out Part 1 of Zoom Your Voice: How to Make Your Voice Sound Great

Demonstration video on my YouTube channel: Power In Your Voice With Dr. Cindy Milligan Secrets to Improving Your Voice on Zoom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WatX3M4-yUA&t=12s