How to loud your voice?

Question

Choudhary Bhrigav · Answer

Especially if you’re someone who has a naturally quiet voice, getting yourself heard can be quite a difficult feat to achieve. You know how especially futile the “just speak louder, then!” sounds, especially when it’s coming from someone who can project their voice across a football field.

Add having to deliver a speech to the mix and things become even more complicated. The last thing you want to hear after getting through a taxing speech is for someone to tell you that they couldn’t make out half of it.

While it’s true that the pitch of your voice is genetically determined, if you’re someone who’s biologically blessed with a voice that makes other people frequently demand you to speak louder, don’t be disheartened. There are a few things that you can do to amplify your voice–no matter how mellow it is. Stick till the end of this article to discover what they are!

The thing is, there’s not just one single reason why some people having soft voices, while others can project their voices loud enough for two people. Rather, the pitch of your voice is determined by a variety of factors, all of which interact with each other in complex ways to produce the natural volume of your voice.

Some of these factors are:

The main culprit behind a softer voice is how you’re built i.e your genetics. Just like everybody is born with a different color of hair or shape of eyes, so does the capacity and size of your larynx and vocal cord differ.

Moreover, some people might simply lack the lung capacity to have a loud voice, as their smaller lung size might not be able to generate as much airflow as someone with bigger lungs.

Your personality is another factor that determines how loud or soft you speak. Generally, in normal social situations, outspoken people tend to speak louder and have more commanding voices, while introverts tend to speak softly and quietly.

This difference translates to the stage as well. Extroverts generally tend to command and thrive in the focus derived from being the center of attention, while the stage generally has exactly the opposite effect on introverts. This makes the latter even more withdrawn, making them appear quieter than they already are.

The specific cultural environment that you grow up in has an equally important effect on the pitch of your voice as the above two factors. Some cultures encourage people to speak out their thoughts, while others might frown upon the same practice.

For example, studies have shown that Asians and Europeans tend to speak at a lower volume than North Americans. Moreover, the volume of your speech conveys different meanings across different cultures.

To illustrate, British English speakers use loudness to portray anger, while Indian English speakers use the same to command your attention.

Besides this, specific environmental factors also play a role in determining your voice pitch. For example, if you’re angry or nervous, the larynx constricts involuntarily, leading you to produce a higher and more unstable pitch.

However, no matter the cause behind the softness of your voice, there are a number of exercises that you can carry out in order to enhance the volume of your voice. Through the use of breathing techniques, voice relaxation, and volume exercises, besides addressing underlying issues and even by taking up a singing class, one can significantly improve their vocal capacity!

People with social anxiety tend to speak extremely softly, often causing other people to overlook them during conversations. This can make the person feel invisible–which, depending on the situation, can feel either like a blessing or a curse (or maybe even a combination of both). Social Anxiety is often overlooked, and people afflicted with it are frequently ridiculed or even scorned for their behavior.

The situation gets even tougher when a person with social anxiety is faced with a seemingly impossible task: having to speak in front of a group of people. To protect themselves, they might speak even more softly than they normally do.

For more tips on how to deal with anxiety in public speaking, check out our article on 5 Public Speaking Tips For Introverted Students.

A few exercises that might help you combat anxiety are:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a great technique that combines deep breathing with flexing and then relaxing specific muscle groups, starting either from head to toe or from toe to head. It’s a great, cost-free way to combat anxiety.

Counting is another great way to ease your anxiety. Whenever you feel anxious before a speech, find a quiet and comfortable place to either stand or sit down. Close your eyes and slowly count to twenty, then count back down till one. Repeat until you feel yourself relaxing.

Another way to combat anxiety is by interrupting anxious thoughts whenever you feel them swell in your head. There are many ways to do this. They can range from listening to music to learning techniques for refocusing your attention to even meditating for a bit.

It’s common knowledge that how you carry yourself is a major factor that plays a role in how people perceive you. However, a lesser-known fact is that your posture plays an equally important role in how well you’re able to project your voice i.e how loud you sound.

A weak or incorrect posture might not only give the audience the impression that you’re a weak speaker, but it may also make it more difficult for you to project your voice loudly and more clearly, besides making you feel out of breath and causing voice fatigue.

So what’s the best posture to have while speaking?

The answer: A Tall Posture.

And what’s a tall posture, you ask?

The easiest way to achieve a tall posture is to pretend that you’re standing against a wall to measure your height. Look straight ahead, tuck your chin in and keep your head high. Keep your shoulders back, knees straight and bellies tucked in, and make sure to not slouch your back.

To achieve and maintain a good posture, I’ve listed down some things you can do:

Incorporating regular exercises into your lifestyle is a great way of naturally correcting your posture. While it’s wise to have a holistic view to exercise, a few posture-specific exercises are high planks, side planks, downward dogs, child’s pose, stretching exercises, etc.

The human imagination is one of the most powerful tools in the universe, so why not use it for more mundane tasks, say like improving your posture? Mental exercises for improving your posture are easy, free-of-cost, and time-efficient. One effective imagination exercise to improve your posture is pretending that you’re a puppet! To do so, imagine that there are strings attached to your body, and someone is holding you upright by pulling them taut from above, and keeping your head, back, shoulders, and knees straight.

While it’s true that breathing is an unconscious process, it’s also true that while public speaking, most people tend to unconsciously breathe incorrectly. Many people breathe too shallowly while they’re speaking. Others might have prolonged stretches of breaks between breaths in order to rush out as many words as possible before inhaling again.

While maintaining a correct breathing technique might seem trivial in the face of delivering an entire speech, in reality, it’s one of the most important factors that go into the successful delivery of a public talk.

So what’s the best way to breathe while delivering your speech?

The answer: Diaphragmatic breathing.

And what’s that, you ask?

Well, Diaphragmatic breathing, as the name sounds, is deep breathing that’s done by fully engaging the diaphragm, which is a muscle located horizontally between the thoracic cavity and abdominal cavity.

To do this, you must fully employ not only the diaphragm but also your stomach and abdominal muscles. While there are various forms of diaphragmatic breathing, basic diaphragmatic breathing is the simplest form. The steps to practice it are:

As mentioned before, a common culprit of a soft speaking voice is nervousness. So, in order to calm down your nerves, practice breath relaxation techniques before your speech.

A few breathing exercises are:

A tell-tale sign of nervousness is speaking too fast. If you feel that’s the case, it might be helpful to deal with them first. The above-mentioned breathing techniques are a good way to deal with anxiety as well as to otherwise control your speaking speech.

On the other hand, if you speak slowly, taking care to enunciate each word, your voice will be suffused with more power, authority, and confidence. You will be able to speak louder, as your focus shifts from trying to speak as much as quickly as possible to focus on each individual word.

However, if you’re someone who has a habit of rushing through or eating your words, speaking slowly is easier said than done. A few techniques to help you are:

Whenever you notice yourself speaking too quickly during a normal conversation or even while you’re delivering a speech, try and pause or at the very least slow down. Take a deep breath, count till 3, then continue speaking.

Another way to slow down your speaking speech and amplify your voice is to add cues into your speech reminding you to take a break or to speak slowly. You can add the cues anywhere: your presentation, a piece of paper, for example.

I know, I know. Speak louder. It’s the most obvious advice to speak louder, isn’t it? And also perhaps the one that you’ve heard most frequently.

However, my goal here isn’t to sound clichéd (or insensitive).

But what I’m asking you to do here is to actually, consciously, practice pitching your voice higher than you normally do.

And while you’re speaking, do frequent mental check-ins with yourself and consciously attempt to raise your voice whenever you feel like you’re talking too quietly.

The easiest and cheapest way to practice raising your voice is by standing in front of a mirror and delivering your speech.

Or even better: To deliver your speech in front of a trusted audience before the big day. Ask your friends or family to hear your speech beforehand and request them to interrupt your speech whenever your voice falls.

You could also ask them to record your speech for future reference. To learn about the benefits of recording your practice speech, check out our article on The Incredible Impact Of Video Recording Yourself While Practicing A Speech.

Just like squats are the unrivaled king (or queen) of leg exercises, so is singing the best exercise for your throat!

I know, I know. Not everyone is born with a natural talent for singing (bathroom singing doesn’t count).

But, News Flash: You don’t necessarily have to be a talented—or even a competent—singer to take singing classes. After all, the entire point of taking a class is to learn something new!

Besides, singing is an amazing way to improve your vocal range, as it is a full-on strength training workout for your throat. And strength training, as you know, is the one-shot way of building a stronger, fitter, and a better body.

You could reach out to a private tutor or even singing classes in your local area. Alternatively, if you don’t have the confidence to sing in front of another person, you could also look up singing lessons through YouTube, or even use an app!

After all, where there is a will, there is a way.

A tense voice will not only sound harsh or difficult to the audience, but a tightened throat will also make it difficult for you to employ the full range of your vocal capacity. As mentioned earlier, nervousness causes the larynx to constrict and leads you to produce a higher and more unstable pitch. Not only that, but a relaxed voice sounds more confident and controlled. To do so, you can use the following exercises before stepping on the stage, or even practice them by yourself in the days leading up to it:

A throat massage is a frequently used technique by singers to keep their voices healthy. It can also be a very useful tool for a presentation, as the tone of voice is just as important for a professional speaker.

To do this, place the back of your hand on both sides of your throat, and then using them move your larynx from side to side. Then, hold the larynx to the right and breathe in slowly through your nose a couple of times. Repeat with the left side.

Another way to speak louder is to directly employ methods to amplify the volume of your voice. There are many exercises that you can follow for this. Some of them are:

Just like warming up before a sporting event is imperative not only to prevent injuries but also to maximize performance, so is warming up before a speech.

Listen, I’m not asking you to do squats and lunges.

Rather, before you step on the stage, try to find a private room or a secluded corner where you feel confident you won’t be disturbed. Once you do that, carry out the following steps:

When we ask you to speak louder, we don’t mean you have to shout. Especially, you don’t need to shout all the time. There’s no need to overdo it. You only need to sound loud enough to be heard, not make people close their ears so that they don’t hear you.

One of the best ways to make your voice louder is to diversify the ways in which you employ it. Play around with your voice. Sing when you’re alone. Read play dialogues. It might sound silly, but trust me: it works.

Many people sound squeaky when they talk too loudly. This is counterproductive, as it will make you look silly. So, keep a lookout on how the pitch of your voice sounds when you try speaking louder than you normally do. If you feel like it’s too high, then try to consciously lower it. Youcould also record yourself to get a better idea of how you sound.

To be able to project your voice as loudly as possible, it is essential to use your diaphragm when you speak. To know where your diaphragm is, see the section on diaphragmatic breathing. Or, place your hand below your chest, and above your abdomen. This is where it is. This is where you need to speak from.

oovzf Janusz · Answer

I have a quiet voice and it gets strained in loud environments, so there have been many times in my past where I’ve felt like the group can’t hear what I have to say. I would have something witty, or interesting to contribute, but my voice wouldn’t carry enough volume to be heard. Other times it felt as though there was never a break in the conversation for me to interject my thoughts. Sometimes people would even talk over what I was saying when I would speak. Or they would ask me to repeat myself 2-3 times before finally acknowledging what I had said. Needless to say, this was disheartening and made socializing feel like a pain. After feeling left out, I began to research how to make myself heard, and I’m happy to say I found some great tips that I have tried out in real life, and they have improved my social interactions immensely. Here’s how to speak louder: Ever noticed how, when you feel anxious around strangers, your voice gets softer? (And it only gets worse when someone says, “Speak up!” or worse, “Why are you so quiet?”) This is our subconscious trying to help out: Our brain picks up on nervosity -> Assumes we might be in danger -> Makes us take up less space to minimize the risk of danger.

The only way to fight our subconscious is to bring it up to a conscious level. So what helped me was to tell myself: “I’m nervous, so my voice will be softer. I’m going to CONSCIOUSLY speak with a louder voice even though my body is telling me not to.” A therapist can also help you overcome and address underlying nervousness. We recommend BetterHelp for online therapy, since they offer unlimited messaging and a weekly session, and are cheaper than going to a therapist's office. Their plans start at $64 per week. If you use this link, you get 20% off your first month at BetterHelp + a $50 coupon valid for any SocialSelf course: Click here to learn more about BetterHelp. (To receive your $50 SocialSelf coupon, sign up with our link. Then, email BetterHelp’s order confirmation to us to receive your personal code. You can use this code for any of our courses.) Nervosity is a big topic. I recommend you to read my guide How to Not Get Nervous Talking to People. If your voice doesn’t carry, try what actors do – PROJECT. To project your voice you need to speak from your diaphragm. To really understand where you should be speaking from, let’s visually picture where, and what your diaphragm is. The diaphragm is a thin muscle that sits at the bottom of your chest. It contracts and flattens when you inhale. You can think of it as a vacuum, sucking air into your lungs. When you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes as the air is pushed out of your lungs. Now close your eyes and imagine exactly where your diaphragm is. Place your hand below your chest, and above your abdomen. Yep. RIGHT there. That is exactly where you should be speaking from to have a louder voice. I wondered how I could project my soft voice without turning into one of those loudmouths I’ve always been annoyed by. The secret is to not over-do. Just because I tell you to project your voice doesn’t mean that I want you to speak your loudest all the time. Our goal here is to be loud enough to be heard, but not louder. When you practice speaking from your abdomen, try doing it at different volumes, so you can match what’s suitable for the situation. There are many ways to practice speaking louder. Often times, actors will partake in breathing exercises as this strengthens their diaphragm, and allows their voice to project loudly and really fill the theater up. In fact, I have an exercise that I use to make my diaphragm stronger. This is an exercise you can do right now: Take a deep breath. Imagine filling your entire stomach. Don’t stop breathing in until you feel completely full- Now, hold your breath inside. Count to 4 or 5, whichever is more comfortable for you. Now you can slowly release. As you breathe out, imagine the air is coming directly from your belly button. This will put you in the habit of practicing talking from an “expansive area” as voice coaches call it. When you have some alone time, play around with your voice. You may feel a little silly, but these types of exercises are exactly how actors, public speakers, and speech therapists practice making their voices louder, and stronger. The next time you have some alone time, sing the ABC’s. As you sing, try to increase in volume. As you get louder, practice going up and down octaves. Don’t be afraid to be silly, you are alone after all. Disclaimer: This isn’t easy. People spend their entire careers on vocal development. Think of your voice as an instrument. You have to practice to see improvements. If you have time, and really want to focus on exploring your own voice, watch this Ted Talk. It’s less than 20 minutes long and incredibly helpful for those of us who want to improve our voices. In this Ted Talk you will learn: Now that we’ve gone over ways to train your voice in speaking louder, it’s time to focus on actually speaking up during your conversation. It’s good to regularly practice with the exercises I’ve talked about so far. But you also need to think about your volume during your conversations so you can immediately feel better about your social interactions. While you are having a conversation, try the following for automatic results. Use these tips for immediate changes along with repeating breathing exercises, and playing around with your voice will result in long term change in the way you speak. If you’re like me, you’ll automatically get more high-pitched when you try to speak louder. You can counteract that by bringing down your pitch consciously. Too much, and it will sound odd, but try recording yourself and hear what different pitches sound like. As you know, the voice always sounds darker to you than it really is. On top of that, a lower-pitched voice has another benefit: People tend to pay more attention to someone with a slightly lower-pitched voice. Because my voice was too quiet for group conversations, I developed a bad habit of speaking too fast. It was as if I tried to say whatever I wanted to say before someone would come in and interrupt me. Ironically, we tend to listen less to people who speak too fast. Instead, take your time. It’s not about speaking as slow as you can. That will just come off as sleepy and low energy. But dare to add pauses and changing your pacing. I learned a lot from paying attention to how socially savvy friends talked. Analyze people who are good at telling stories, and notice how they don’t stress to get out what they are trying to say! How do you enter an ongoing group conversation if you have a quiet voice? You know that you’re not supposed to interrupt, so you wait for whoever talks to finish, and then, just as you’re about to say your thing, someone else starts talking. The game-changer for me was using a subconscious signal. Just before I’m about to start talking, I raise my hand so that people react to the movement. At the same time, I breathe (The type of breath we take just before we’re about to start talking) loud enough for people to notice. This is magic for someone with a naturally quiet voice: Everyone knows that you’re about to say something, and the risk is lower that someone will speak over you. These are some frames from an actual dinner I hosted a while back. See how everyone looks at the guy in the red t-shirt on frame 1 who’s just done talking. In frame 2, I raised my hand and breathed in, which turned everyone’s heads toward me. In frame 3, you see how I have everyone’s attention as I start talking. Here’s my full guide on how to join a group conversation. I was puzzled that sometimes when I talked, people talked right over me. It was like they didn’t even hear me. After a while, I realized my mistake: I looked away while taking, instead of looking the listeners in their eyes. Here’s a trick to make sure that people listen to you: Make eye contact with the person you feel has the most influence over the group. That way, you’re subconsciously signaling that you are part of the conversation (even if you don’t say anything and even if you have a quiet voice). By making eye contact with the most influential person, you are making yourself present in the group. Whenever you’re talking, keep eye contact with the influential person and other listeners. Keeping eye contact like this “locks” people into your conversation and it’s harder to blatantly speak over you. One way to insert yourself into the conversation is to go along with what is already being said. I make sure to comment on something that has already been a topic of interest. This takes the pressure off to say something extremely meaningful or interesting. And also, the group is more likely to listen to you, even if you have a quiet voice. You can simply comment, or agree with what’s already happening. We all need to feel validated, so it’s likely you will be received well if you positively reinforce what is already being said. Once you use the power of positive reinforcement you become part of the conversation. At this point, where you already have their attention, you can speak your mind in a more opinionated way. So here’s how I enter a group conversation to make sure that people listen: “Liza, you mentioned before that whales are not risking extinction any more, that’s so good to hear! Do you know if that’s the case for the blue whale, too?” Entering a conversation in this agreeing, acknowledging, probing way helps you make yourself heard, even if your voice is quiet. The most intimidating conversations happen when we view ourselves as an outsider to the social group we are with. It may be partly true, perhaps we are at a social gathering and only know 1-2 people. But it is a HUGE mistake to view yourself as an outsider to the conversation. Rather, think of yourself as NEW. It took me a long time to realize almost everyone experiences a nervousness of sorts when interacting with new people. Those that come across confidently have often “faked it” until they made it. A key component in “faking it” is to visualize yourself as part of the conversation. If you have the mindset that you don’t belong, you will externally communicate that through your body language, so even when you DO work up the nerve to say something, people aren’t going to pay attention because it seems like you don’t want to be part of the conversation. Instead of writing yourself off, replace your negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, if you commonly think to yourself, “Why am I here, no one cares who I am or what I have to say.” Think like this instead, “I don’t know many people here, yet, but I will after the night is done.” Put a positive, but realistic twist on your expectations for the evening. You’ll be surprised how this affects your conversations. On your way to your next social interaction, visualize yourself as vividly as you can as a socially savvy, popular person who can make yourself heard. Because I have a naturally quiet voice, it used to feel the safest to be on the outskirt of the group, but that’s the last place to be heard. Even if you are speaking, it’s going to be hard for others to hear you, and this is where you will get into everyone asking you to repeat what you just said, or worse ignoring what you said because you’re too far away. Move your body literally towards the center of the conversation. This is an easy way to automatically be part of the conversation. People will notice the movement, so act naturally, and genuinely interested in what is happening. Once they make eye contact with you it’s time to insert your thoughts into the conversation. Here’s my trick to reposition without coming off as odd: Wait to reposition until you are talking. That’ll make your move look natural. If your voice is naturally quiet, be bold with your body. Use your arms, hands, fingers, to make gestures to emphasize the words you are saying. Confidence is exerted through body movements, so move! Think of your body like an exclamation point. It can bring excitement to the words you speak, and spark interest in those around you. By using gestures to emphasize what you say, you draw attention to yourself, and people will want to listen up and hear exactly what you have to say. It’s important not to go overboard with this tip. It’s an easy one to overdo, you’ll need to experiment and practice to find a good, natural balance. After reading and digesting these tips, make sure you don’t take any of them too far. Nothing is more annoying in a group conversation than that one person who insists on making some loud comment about every single thing that is said. Typically those comments have little substance and detract from the conversation flow.

Jafar Allman · Answer

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