Your voice is your main tool if you're a public speaker, take care of it. Most of us will be speaking for several hours at a time. If you don't learn to protect your voice you will really be miserable as you speak, and may well lose your audience. You can prepare ahead by having one or two bottles of water handy before you begin.
Relaxing is very important to breathing properly. Breath control is vital to properly use your voice and make it last for hours. Especially if you are not using sound equipment your voice is at risk.
As you speak make sure you are standing with good posture, relax your throat muscles, breath deeply - especially at the beginning of the session. Then like a singer, speak from down in your belly - not your throat. You want to learn to use your diaphragm to push the air out. This will help you project very well, and it puts much less of a strain on your voice.
When you are addressing the class be careful not to turn away from them while talking. This causes your voice to drop and many will not hear what you say. This is irritating to the class and they'll likely let you know. Face them when you speak as much as possible. Find a few with friendly faces throughout the class and speak directly to them.
In my next post I'll deal with the subject of controlling your audience. Your suggestions and comments are always welcome.
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