Talk With a Deeper Voice

Talking with a deep voice can be a useful skill in a variety of professional contexts. Many radio announcers, voice-over artists and public speakers use deep voices professionally because they command attention while at the same time suggesting gentle authority. The pitch or depth of your voice is related to various biological and environmental factors like stress, substance use and pollution. If you are interested in getting a deeper voice, you can try a variety of breathing and vocal exercises, as well as mobile applications.[1]

Steps

Controlling Your Breathing

  1. Breathe naturally. Take a moment to notice the quality of your breath. Notice if you are breathing in through your mouth or through your nose. For now, don’t try to change your breath. Just notice how it feels and breathe naturally.
  2. Experiment with your breath. Try breathing in through your nose and down into the lower depths of your belly. Then, while you are exhaling, say “hello.” Listen to the pitch and depth of your voice. To compare, try the same exercise but breathe into your chest or your throat. It should sound very high pitched when you breathe into your throat, medium pitched when you breathe into your chest, and deep when you breathe into your lower diaphragm.[2]
  3. Use diaphragm breathing. Breathe deep into your lower diaphragm. As you exhale, say something you want to say. Your voice will sound deeper if you breathe into your lower belly. [2]
    • Open your mouth quite naturally, in order to speak normally. Do not purse, cup or shape your lips or cheeks.

Projecting Your Voice

  1. Speak in front of a mirror. Stand up straight and tall. Hold your chin up. Then, say your name and listen to how it sounds. Alternately, you can read a passage from a newspaper or a book. Consider the volume, tone, breathiness and especially the pitch of your voice.[3]
    • The pitch of your voice is determined by how much your vocal chords vibrate.[4]
    • If your voice sounds high or has a high pitch, it means your vocal chords are vibrating at a high frequency.[4]
    • If your voice sounds low or deep, it means your vocal chords are vibrating at a lower frequency.[4]
  2. Relax your throat. When you try to speak lower than normal, your voice is less likely to crack. Aim to relax your throat as much as possible, so that you do not tighten your vocal chords.[3]
    • Moisten your voice box and keep it sounding clear by working up a little extra saliva occasionally and swallowing.
  3. Perform reading exercises. Choose a passage from one of your favorite books or articles. Practice reading the passage slowly and with a low voice. If you find yourself reading too quickly, you may notice your voice will loose its timbre. Keep your chin up, breathe through your belly and read the passage.[3]
  4. Do voice exercises with a mobile application. There are a variety of mobile applications available for smart phones or tablets, which you can use to train your vocal chords on your own time. These applications allow you to train towards specific goals and to monitor your performance. For instance, you could try one of the following applications: [5]
    • Vocular allows you to measure how deep your voice sounds. It tells you how deep you are speaking and even lets you compare your voice to celebrities with similar sounding voices.[6]
    • Eva is designed for transgender users who are currently transitioning and want to change the sound of their voice, such as pitch, tone or breathiness.[5]
  5. Try humming. Hum deeply from your throat, with your lips parted and your chin pointed down toward your chest, to warm up your voice. Humming is an excellent warm up for musicians and singers, as well as anyone who wants to improve their speaking voice.[7]
    • Raise your chin slowly while humming and then begin speaking directly from that humming voice, so that it sounds deeper.
  6. Speak through your mouth. Instead of speaking through your nose, you should speak through your mouth. Although you can have a deep voice that is nasal, it sounds better to have a deep voice that does not have a nasal quality.[3]
    • Avoid using an overly airy, soft, smooth, too hollow-resonance or echo-like sound that you can feel in your chest (called a chest voice).
  7. Practice projecting your speaking voice. Learn to talk so that you hear your voice out in front of yourself. Don't hold your stomach in while learning this technique. Breathe from your diaphragm. You should feel your breath moving from your belly upwards through your chest and then out of your mouth.
  8. Practice gradual changes to your voice. Avoid making harsh efforts to change your voice, so as to prevent any straining of the vocal cords. At the start, only work your voice out for short periods of time, and do so only a couple of semitones below your normal pitch. Over time, carefully lower your practice pitch, and allow yourself extra time.
    • Have fun and experiment with friends and family to see how they react (they're more likely to be forgiving). Try funny voices and odd tones to learn better control. And keep aiming to ensure that your voice sounds as you prefer it.

Trying Techniques in the Moment

  1. Keep your chin up. Good posture will help you maintain a deep and authoritative voice. Instead of letting your head fall down or to the side while you speak, you should try to keep your head up straight and your chin up.[8]
    • Your posture is important for achieving a good speaking voice.
  2. Swallow before speaking. One trick to attain a deeper voice is to do a swallowing motion just before you speak. You don’t need to actually swallow anything. Imagine you are swallowing something and then say the words. Your voice should be slightly lower than usual.[8]
  3. Speak slowly. Try speaking slower than usual. Lower your voice at the beginning of a sentence and then just speak slowly. If you find you want to speak too quickly, it could raise the pitch of your voice.[8]
  4. Avoid speaking with a growly or raspy voice. This practice can damage your vocal chords. It could also be a symptom of a medical condition such as strep throat. [8]
    • Avoid smoking. Although smoking can give you a raspy or breathy voice, it will do long term damage to your health, including your vocal chords and lungs. [8]
    • If you have a raspy voice that does not go away, you should seek medical attention.

Tips

  • Record your voice. Buy or borrow an audio recorder. Make a short recording of yourself as you read a passage from a newspaper or a book.
  • Many singers and performers rely on ginger tea before a big performance. Although there is no scientific evidence to back up the practice, many performers claim it helps them relax and can warm up the vocal chords.[9]
  • If can afford it, you might like to try a few speech or voice lessons. If so, talk to a speech or singing-voice teacher to see what one may suggest and the costs involved.

Warnings

  • Do not strain your voice by forcing sounds that are uncomfortable, such as rasping (grinding) your vocal cords.
  • Avoid speaking in hard, rough tones, or harshly clearing your throat. That can injure your voice, over time.
  • If you have a high voice such as tenor, do not strain or harshly try to change your natural voice.
  • Drinking cold water will cause tightening of the vocal cords.[10]

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://mentalfloss.com/article/50360/what-determines-what-your-voice-sounds
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.fastcompany.com/3035634/6-simple-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://www.fastcompany.com/3035634/6-simple-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.bodylanguageuniversity.com/public/203.cfm
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/02/eva-transgender-voice-training-app
  6. ↑ http://get-a-wingman.com/how-to-get-a-deeper-voice/
  7. ↑ https://www.voices.com/blog/tips_for_controlling_your_voice/
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/How-to-Make-Your-Voice-Deeper.html
  9. ↑ http://www.voicecouncil.com/does-ginger-tea-actually-help-the-voice/
  10. ↑ http://www.makingitinmusic.net/vocalist-corner/five-ways-to-improve-and-protect-your-voice.html

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