There is a difference between breathing to sustain life and breathing for optimal voice usage. Breathing properly is the primary foundation for producing an ideal voice image. Without proper breathing achieving your ideal voice image will not occur. Most individuals breathe in a way that impairs their ability to produce a voice that is strong and rich in tone. By becoming educated on how to breathe effectively, you will be able to generate your best voice image. There are 3 typical breathing patterns. Which breathing pattern is yours?
1. Chest breathing . This is the most common breathing pattern where the upper part of the rib cage and chest expands on inhalation. It is quite comfortable for most people to coordinate their breathing and speaking using this pattern. However, breathing this way for speech causes the breath to be shallow and limits the speaker's ability to project their voice and sound strong. This result occurs because limited air support is available in the vocal mechanism causing the voice to have tension, waver in pitch, sound thin or have lower volume.
2. Upper chest and shoulder breathing. The shoulders and collar bone raise and lower as breathing occurs in the upper chest cavity. This type of breathing is quite shallow and not good for voice production because minimal air is available. People who breathe from this area have difficulty projecting and their voice and the quality can be described as harsh, breathy or high in pitch since significant tension is usually placed in the laryngeal area. Voice is being produced with the least amount of air and creating an exhausting habit while producing poor vocal quality.
3. Midsection or diaphragm breathing . For optimal voice usage and projection, proper breathing must come from the midsection or diaphragm. This type of breathing will come from the area of your stomach and lower rib cage providing the most volume of air for voicing. Visualize a balloon inflating and deflating when breathing from this area. This type of breathing will allow you to control your exhalation while speaking, creating natural projection and a pleasing tone quality for your best voice image. The chest and shoulders should not have involvement with breathing and should never be moving while breathing for ideal speech and voicing. Look for this habit when you speak.
When you breathe from your diaphragm you have given yourself a full amount of air for a rich and robust voice. Breathing on limited air from your upper chest and shoulders provides less air for your voice to use. When you use your voice with only a small amount of air the result is a softer voice, weaker tone quality and limited projection. Good breath support gives your vocal chords the power to do their work.
What is your typical breathing style? ________________________________
Proper diaphragm breathing is easy to achieve but may feel awkward at first if this is a new skill. If you find this difficult, practice it. You are not alone. Most people are chest breathers and do not speak on a diaphragm breath. The good news is, you can learn how to diaphragm breathe and be able to turn it "on" whenever you want to have good projection and sound strong. This skill will be taught in 3 different positions.
Lying Down
- People automatically breathe from their diaphragm in the lying down position. Lie on your back against the floor. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
- Breathe in and out through your nose. Your midsection should be moving inward and outward while your chest remains still. Congratulations, you are diaphragm breathing!
- To provide additional visual assistance, place a small, light book on your midsection. The book should be raising and lowering as you breathe.
Sitting Position
- Engage in diaphragm breathing while sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Follow the same procedure with your hand placement on your stomach and chest. Breathe through your nose and feel your diaphragm move outward and inward. Think of that balloon inflating and deflating. Place a book spine down across your lap. The book should move forward and backward with proper diaphragm breathing. Experiment with the coordination. You will get the skill with practice. Again, if diaphragm breathing is new it will take some practice to learn the coordination.
Standing Tall
- Practice proper breathing in the standing position. Nothing has changed with your breathing patterns, only your position!
- Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Breathe in and out through your nose. You midsection should be moving inward and outward while your chest and shoulders remain still. Think of that balloon inflating and deflating. If your upper chest and shoulders are moving up and down you are not breathing from your diaphragm. Another comparison is to make your belt buckle move.
- This may feel awkward at first since this is a new skill. Don't become frustrated. If you are having difficulty doing this without moving your chest return to the lying down position to see and feel correct diaphragm breathing.
Note: To reinforce proper breathing, breathe incorrectly! Breathe at your chest level and feel the difference. Compare the experience. Produce sentences with both types of breathing. Which breathing pattern is best for career speech?
MYTH It is a myth that breathing from the midsection will cause your stomach to bloat, pooch, stick out, seem larger than it actually is or draw attention toward yourself by breathing this way. These are phony myths. The breathing may seem unnatural at first because you are probably experiencing correct breathing for the first time! Professional stage actors, public speakers and political figures speak while using proper diaphragm breathing techniques. I am willing to bet you have never noticed their stomachs!
Projection is NOT about simply increasing volume!
Projection is not as simple as merely raising your volume. This is a common misunderstanding. A strong voice must begin with a proper full diaphragm breath to have the ability to project. In general, the sound of your voice is created by sound waves resonating though your pitch. Speaking on a full diaphragm breath will provide the power to carry your sound waves across the room. A chest breath is limiting in power because less air is available. Attempting to increase your volume on a limited breath provides less power and smaller sound waves resulting in a weaker voice. Increasing your volume without the breath support will create speech that is higher in pitch not richer in tone quality. The result will be a thinner tone, higher in pitch that will not be perceived as powerful or commanding. If you want to project your voice, speak on a diaphragm breath so there is enough breath support and air volume to provide the necessary power.
Test It! Say, "Hello Rebecca, How are you?" while exhaling on a full breath from your diaphragm. Do it again from a breath high in your chest cavity. What were the differences in your voice? How was the volume or voice quality?
Consider this . When someone is yelling, are they projecting their voice? Yelling or speaking when excited actually causes people to speak in higher pitch tones. The moment of surprise usually causes people to take a shallow chest breath and speak in a higher pitch creating a thin and less effective voice. The higher pitch may seem powerful but this is not the case. The vocal quality is actually thinner and has nasal resonance. Try it to see for yourself. Using your skills for projecting say, "Taxi! Pull over please". Repeat the exercise by producing the line again with a chest breath. Which approach produced a richer, fuller tone quality? The next time you want to be heard or prove a point, skip yelling and project with a diaphragm breath. You will get better results plus your new voice will enhance your image.
* Be careful when practicing projection that you are using diaphragm breathing to avoid straining your voice.
Practice proper breathing in all three positions 3x's a day for a one-minute period. During the next week create purposeful practice opportunities by associating a routine, activity or habit you do each day where you can incorporate and use these new habits.
Practice Suggestions
Lying Down - Breathe lying down before going to sleep and getting up from bed.
Standing Tall- Practice proper breathing while waiting in line to purchase an item.
Sitting Position- When sitting to have a meal, practice proper breathing.
Brainstorm how you will complete this practice during your daily routine.
Lying Down ___________________________________________________
Standing Tall ___________________________________________________
Sitting Position ___________________________________________________
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