Need to talk a lot?

Little hacks to help your voice

I have spent the last few weeks doing a lot of talking. I recorded the audio book for Big Time. I’ve done many dozens of interviews. My voice is getting quite a workout, and that’s before we even get to singing three times a week.

So I’ve been doing a few things that I find helpful and that might be helpful for you too when you need your voice to perform at its best.

For instance, I’ve become a big fan of “Throat Coat” tea. I am not a huge tea drinker. But Traditional Medicinals makes what it calls a “throat coat” tea in a lemon echinacea flavor that is reasonably pleasant and really does make my voice less gravelly. I drink it and I have that sort of sweet feeling in my throat that I do when I feel fully warmed up vocally. So now I sip this any time I’ve got a lot of recordings.

I will also sing the praises of sugar-free cough drops…even if you’re not coughing. Sucking on a Ricola cough drop will make your throat less dry. You have to take it out to talk, but this is helpful if you’ve got a while before you’re going on for something (like you’re waiting backstage, or are in a green room). Eating green apples can also get you salivating but sucking on a cough drop is often logistically easier than eating an apple!

I’ve also started doing vocal warm-ups in the car on the way to any in-person type recordings. The same exercises that make it possible to sing make it possible to talk. Humming tends to warm up the voice, as does sighing and sliding up and down. You could probably hum to yourself while walking somewhere too — singing on the street might be a bit strange but humming is less so, or at least is less audible, and you will arrive where you are going with a smoother sounding voice.

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Big Time is now available everywhere books are sold! Please pick up a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Books-a-Million, Hudson, your local book store, or ask at your library. I appreciate the support.