Voice Tips for Professional & Occupational Voice Users

Anyone whose voice is essential to do their job is considered a professional or occupational voice user. For these individuals, it is extremely important to keep their voices healthy and functioning optimally every day.

Professional or occupational voice users include teachers, singers, lawyers, salespeople, servers, clergy, coaches, fitness instructors, receptionists, and more. Because these jobs require people to use their voices for many hours a day or project their voices to a crowd or in a loud environment, they are at a greater risk of developing voice problems.

If you are a professional voice user, here are some tips from a voice-specialized SLP:

AMPLIFY

Consider using amplification when projecting your voice to a group or in a loud environment. There are many voice amplifiers available online at various price points.

 WARM-UP

Gently hum on /mmm/ for a few minutes, or do voiced lip trills/lip bubbles up and down your pitch range to give your vocal cords a stretch.

ARTICULATE

Use crisp and clear articulation when speaking. Using clear speech has many benefits, including slowing rate of speech, increasing loudness, increasing intonation contour, and creating more natural pauses. All of these will help your voice and overall clarity of speech.

RESONATE

Focus on feeling airflow at the lips and buzzy vibrations in the front of your face/mouth when you speak. Notice vibrations on voiced consonants like m, n, z, and v. See if you can sense the vibrations as you say words, sentences, and in conversation.

HYDRATE

Sip water throughout the day. Aim for about half your body weight in ounces each day to keep your vocal folds supple and healthy.

USE AN EARPLUG

The Lombard Effect is the involuntary tendency of speakers to push their voices over loud noise in order to be heard. Wearing one ear plug will help block some of the noise in your environment, and allow you to hear your voice better, so you’re less likely to push or hurt your voice.

VOCAL NAPS

Allow 5-10 minutes for silent voice rest for every hour of voice use. This will give your voice a break and decrease the risk of vocal fatigue throughout the day.

If you are a professional voice user struggling with a voice problem, please see an ENT doctor for assessment, and ask for a referral for voice therapy. Speech Pathologists can tailor a customized treatment plan to help meet your personal and professional voice needs.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Delaney Grieco, MS, CCC-SLP

Delaney is a licensed speech-language pathologist specializing in voice and voice disorders. After graduating, she completed training as a singing voice teacher with New York Vocal Coaching in New York City. Delaney has focused much of her post-graduate clinical coursework on the treatment of voice disorders. She loves being able to blend vocal artistry and voice science when working with patients.

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