When is it Good to Mouth Breathe?
Susan-Jane Harrison
I help creative writers, actors and motivational speakers bring out their authentic voice to reach their audience. Turn anxiety into the joy of sharing your message by learning holistic, repeatable techniques.
Mouth breathing has a bad reputation.??While it is unhealthy to habitually mouth breathe, did you know that it's necessary for certain activities???
Foundational exercises?for speaking start with breathing through your mouth.? Why is this???
You need more air when you're speaking - without air there is no voice.??Breathing through the mouth allows us to obtain more air.??
If we breathe through the nose while engaged in a flow of speech, we won't get enough air to support the voice.? Anytime we find ourselves without enough air, anxiety follows.? Breathing through the nose while presenting is like?sipping air through a straw.? It can engender a sense of panic.
When we prime the thought with a deep breath through the mouth, our mouth is already open, primed to articulate.? This posture assists with flow of thought and expression.? On the contrary, if we breathe through the nose and use this breath to deliver our next sentence our brain has to shift gears:
VERSUS
Additionally, we lose breath in the split second?between breathing through the nose and opening the mouth.??We?will either?hold the breath when we open the mouth or let some of the air go as we open the mouth.? In this moment you lose some of your sparse air supply.. You have roughly half the breath to support your voice.?
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Breathe through your mouth and immediately speak on the breath.? Imagine that the breath is a springboard for the words.??When you're no longer speaking, close your mouth!? Simple as that!
I recently came across?Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic.? This book excellently explains both the health issues mouth breathing?can cause, and also how mouth breathing?signifies underlying health issues.??
Be assured that mouth breathing when speaking is something you are probably already doing.??It's natural and healthy in this context.? When you need extra air, you will breathe through the mouth.??Here are times when we need to breathe through our mouths:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN SUPPORTIVE BREATHING FOR SPEECH?
This Friday I will be teaching a?live online class fills in the gaps and starts you on the road to skillful and confident presentations.? Class size will be fairly small, and there will be time for questions/discussion.? After the class, you will receive a complimentary mp3 to guide you through effective breathing for speaking.
Hope to see you here:?Tune Up Your Speaking Impact: 5 Transformative Tools on Friday, April 26th at 12pm PDT.