Whether you’re planning to speak to a stadium of thousands or just a room full of people for a presentation, vocal warm-up exercises have a powerful effect. But what if you don’t have much time? In this guide, we want to talk about the benefits of vocal warm-up exercises as well as the quickest that you can do whenever you need.
Why are Vocal Warm-Up Exercises Important?
If you’ve not done vocal warm-up exercises before, you might read this and wonder why you should even bother. Well, whether you’re singing or public speaking, the first thing to note is that your vocal muscles are just like any other. Without a warm-up, you’re more likely to cause strain. With the right exercises, you can stretch the vocal folds, reduce vocal fatigue, and even boost blood flow to the larynx.
Why would you want to do these things? As mentioned, the biggest reason is to prevent injury or strain. What happens if you’re in the middle of a presentation and your voice suddenly goes? Although it might sound simple and like something that would never happen, it’s the sort of thing that loses clients and suppliers every day – it’s hard to sound convincing when your voice is strained.
With a short warm-up, your lungs, chest, throat, and larynx are all ready for the speech. Rather than sounding hoarse and monotonous, you can impress those who are listening. Additionally, there’s evidence to suggest that warming up before public speaking also balances air pressure that goes to the vocal cords. Also, the sound quality improves.
All in all, you will sound better, feel better, and your message will get across clearer than ever before.
Quickest Vocal Warm-Up Exercises
So, with this information in mind, what are some quick vocal exercises that you can do to warm up your voice? At this stage, we should say that a voice coach online can provide tailored exercises based on your voice, vocal range, and other factors. However, these exercises are an effective starting point.
Lip Trills – Although these are perhaps the simplest and most widely known, they are popular with professionals in different fields because they are effective. Not only this, but they’re also fun and easy to do. As well as releasing tension in the lips, this exercise will prevent vocal fold tension, boost breath support, and more. Considering it only takes seconds, this is a fantastic exercise.
Humming – It might be something you do every day without realizing that it benefits your vocals, but humming is a powerful exercise because of the vibrations it creates. By loosening your vocal cords, you should find it easier to speak. In particular, this is a great exercise if you’re speaking early in the morning. After a night of sleep, you sometimes need to wake up your throat and voice, and humming is an ideal solution.
As well as holding long hums, hum without pursing your lips to loosen the lips too. While humming, try not to keep the cheeks and jaws tense (this is a common mistake). If you can keep your mouth relaxed, you will notice the benefits.
Chanting – As well as humming, a voice coach online will also likely suggest chanting because it warms up your voice and prepares it for singing or speaking. Over the years, four words have received more attention than most, so why not try chanting the following words:
- Mee
- My
- Mo
- Moo
The reason chanting these four words is so effective is that you can combine them with humming. Try humming and then moving into one of the chants; then, go back to humming before going into another of the words. Over time, you’ll notice that the sound that comes from your throat gets clearer and more precise.
Pronunciation and Enunciation – Finally, you should also over-enunciate and pronounce your words to get into the right speaking mode. Especially if you want to make a good impression on people who don’t know you, enunciate your words (it could be words in your presentation) to ensure that the whole audience hears what you have to say.
With this, you have some fantastic quick vocal warm-up exercises. Good luck!