Vocal warm-ups

One way to improve your delivery is to warm up your voice before you record or go on live. How do you do that? A couple of years ago, I sat in on a session at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters conference by Arthur Joseph, who runs the Vocal Awareness Institute. He had the group humming, literally, as he had us all practice an exercise I can’t quite describe that helped make our voices sound less nasal.

A good warm-up begins with deep breathing, followed by targeted stretching and a series of vocal exercises. You might feel silly doing this, but remember that most of the vocal fold is a muscle. You shouldn’t go jogging without stretching, should you? Here’s one easy-to-follow warm-up routine.

Angela Grant, who runs NewsVideographer, has put together a terrific list of other online resources. Try her suggestion and record your narration cold, without warming up. Then do a warm-up routine and record the narration again. Compare the results and see if you think warming up makes a difference.

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