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IE Group

Voice and Speech Development

The voice and speech mechanism lies at the heart of what it means to be human.  It is the most powerful index of character and can be developed to its full potential

At the IE Group, we enhance the voice and speech in a scientific way that includes:

  • Relaxation and body alignment affect posture, the quality of the voice and speech production. Acquire effective exercises to ensure a relaxed posture for optimal sound.
  • Using the correct method of breathing is essential to enable voice production. Learn diaphragmatic intercostal method and project your voice with ease
  • Resonance means amplification of sound. Using the “Y-buzz” exercises can produce a rich and resonant voice that captures listener attention.
  • Articulation means speaking clearly. Clear speech depends on the agility of the speech organs in the mouth.  Practice fun tongue twisters to increase your clarity.
  • Modulation adds variety and dynamism to the voice. Learn important modulation techniques such as variety in pitch, pace, emphasis, pause and inflection to hold listener’s attention.

Importance of Voice and Speech Optimisation

In this information driven world, we tend to rely so much on our content, facts, material or data, that we forget about who we are presenting it to – the human. This is where the body language, emotional prosody, tone of voice, and modulation comes into play. This suggests that your content, facts, material or data might be brilliant, but if you cannot convey that information in an interesting way, whether in a boardroom, interview, presentation, or even a team or staff meeting, then it will lose its effect completely and your ideas won’t get you anywhere. Therefore, in order to enhance your communicative impact power in a high-stakes presentation, negotiation, interview or meeting, it is imperative that you grasp the listeners attention and make yourself and the information memorable.

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Do vocal exercises before important presentations, meeting or seminars

  • Jaw message
  • Humming
  • Horse Lips
  • Y-buzz
  • Lip and tongue drill

Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol before important presentations, meeting or seminars

Caffeine and alcohol dehydrate vocal folds, which can cause tissue damage. Drink water to keep your body well hydrated and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Your vocal cords vibrate very fast and having a proper water balance keeps them lubricated.

Focus on body Integration

The way we shape our body affects the way we sound. There are various aspects that influence the shape of our bodies namely:

  • Individual Habitual Patterns
  • Emotions
  • Tension
    • When we think about our voices, we tend to only consider our vocal mechanism, disregarding the rest of the body. Your entire body is an instrument; the shape of your body will affect the way you sound. You want to make sure that your body is devoid of any characteristics that might hinder optimised commutation by making ensuring the following:
  • Standing hip-with apart
  • Unlocking Knees
  • Knees effortlessly resting on the 3-point weight distribution points under your feet
  • Hips resting on knees
  • Shoulders resting on hips

Reflection statement

The embodiment of these elements will not only enhance your overall communicative impact power, but also increase better listener comprehension and effective delivery of important information.

Use Modulation Keys

Modulation can be described as the patterned distribution of pace, pitch, volume, stress, pause, phrasing and intonation to create a variation in your sound.

Make sure your body is free from tension

Stress can lead to forceful voice production, resulting in possible tissue damage. Relaxation techniques can improve your voice and allow you to speak more effectively and longer. Try stretching your shoulders, neck and facial muscles periodically; slow deep breaths also may help.

Avoid Smoking

Don’t smoke, or if you already do, quit. Smoking raises the risk of throat cancer tremendously, and inhaling smoke irritates the vocal cords.

Avoid clearing your throat too often

When you clear your throat, it’s like slamming your vocal folds together. Doing it too much can injure them and make you hoarse. Sipping water, swallowing or sucking on a cough drop may ease the irritation in the throat.

Recognise when your voice is tired

Allow yourself several ‘vocal naps’ every day, especially during periods of extended use.

Spare your voice when you are sick

Some medication leads to the dehydration of the vocal folds. Antihistamine reduces saliva and mucous production. If you are taking medication that dehydrates, drink lots of water and other fluids. When you are sick, spare your voice. Don’t talk when you are hoarse due to a cold or infection.

Humidify your home and work areas

Moisture is good for the voice.

Voice and Speech Development Self Assessment

Take the self-assessment now to determine your strengths and areas for development.

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Voice and Speech

The process of finding your individual voice can only be accomplished through a complex and personally unique mixture of the following four different factors: 1. What you hear – which includes the environments throughout one’s lives (accent), the position in one’s social environment etc. 2. How you hear it – involves how one hears and interprets messages and sounds, it will always be subjective. 3. Your habit of speech – it includes the physicality and the muscular ability of the person as well as his speech patterns. 4. How you hear your voice and influence it to correspond to your personality and experience your self-image. In Voice and Speech training we explore the refinement of all aspects of voice, speech and pronunciation development to elevate this important tool. English is often the lingua franca of choice in business and this creates specific challenges for second-language users. Our approach to voice, speech and pronunciation is: to optimise clarity and vocal impact. This implies that we do not neutralise accents but rather work towards increased clarity and impact that maintains the unique identity.

Name(Required)
Do you experience your speech to be too soft?(Required)
Do you experience your speech too fast?(Required)
Do you experience your voice to be monotonous (little variety, everting on same pitch)?(Required)
Does your voice have any undesirable characteristics such as: breathiness/ hoarse/ harsh sound/ throaty?(Required)
Do you ever experience tension in your neck, shoulders, back, face or jaw?(Required)
Does your voice reflect the image that you want to project?(Required)
Do you ever feel as if you do not have enough breath when you speak, or run out breath while you speak?(Required)
Do other people usually ask you to speak up or speak louder in meetings or presentations?(Required)
Do you experience your speech too slow?(Required)
Does your tongue, jaw, throat or cheeks feel tired after talking about a topic for a while?(Required)
Do you experience the pitch of your voice to be too high?(Required)
Do you experience the pitch of your voice to be too low?(Required)
Do other people comment on your voice and speech?(Required)
Do you feel as if you are not achieving the desired outcomes in your verbal communication?(Required)
No, thank you. I do not want.
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