CHAPTER VIII

THERE'S A GOLD MINE IN YOUR VOICE

Develop It-Make It Attractive and Effective by Learning How to Use Your Vocal Machinery

IN THE business world nothing adds more to the

modulated, expressive voice. Such a voice is a great asset to all classes of business people, be they lawyers, clergymen, brokers, manufacturers, salesmen, clerks, men or women all alike are in need of voices that will correctly convey to other minds the thoughts that are in their own.

How is such a voice to be acquired? Through building up the entire vocal mechanism by a systematic course of training until all the parts perform their tasks in a simple and easy manner.

This means that one must breathe properly, produce voice correctly, and form speech accurately. As soon as the rudimentary part of vocal culture is mastered by conscious effort and the principles have sunk into the sub-conscious recesses of the brain, no further conscious attention need be given to the means whereby the effects are produced. But until the time comes that all the parts of the vocal mechanism

work properly without conscious watching, one must be ever on the lookout to see that errors are avoided. Much may be accomplished by stated periods of practice in the privacy of one's own room; but in order to derive quick and lasting benefit from the work, the principles underlying the art of speech should be practiced and exercised at all times.

The Diaphragm Is the Lever That Controls the Voice

The first essential is the proper production of breath. Voice should be controlled by the organs of breath and not by the organ of voice. It depends entirely on the kind of breath that is sent through the larynx (the voice box) as to what form of voice will be produced. For instance: If breath is sent gently through the larynx, an effusive, or soft, tone of voice will be produced. If breath is pushed through the larynx an expulsive tone will be formed. If breath is shot through the larynx, an explosive tone will be the result. Remember, the kind of pressure applied by the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm to the lungs regulates the form of voice that is produced. These breathing muscles constitute a lever that regulates, turns on and off, the breath, and they govern the voice in all matters except modulation.

By placing the work on the breathing muscles all strain is taken away from the larynx, throaty tones are avoided, and the voice does not easily tire.

Do Not Hold Back Your Voice

of Your Larynx

- Get It Out

The second essential is the correct use of the larynx, the organ of sound. All voice is produced in the larynx, but it should pass quickly through into the mouth, where it is articulated into speech. Any holding back of vocal sound produces mouthed tones, and is likely to bring about laryngitis and other throat troubles. Rasping, raucous, guttural, and aspirated tones result from a failure to keep the larynx open and quickly pass the voice out of the vocal box.

It Is Important to Speak on the Lips

The third essential is to speak on the lips. While the hard and soft palate, the tongue and teeth contribute to the articulation of the voice, the lips are the most important organs for the molding of vocal sound. For this reason all sounds should be brought forward, and all words spoken on the lips.

Learn to Put Color in Your Voice

The fourth essential is to put color in the voice. It may surprise you to know that voice has color, but the speaker has at his command as many colors for the painting of sounds as has the artist for the production of pictures. That is, he has them in his

voice unless they have died for want of exercise. In the majority of cases the colors, or tones, are merely lying dormant and will awaken from their sleep as soon as they are called.

Resonance is one of the principal producers of color, or expression, in the voice. It makes the tone ring with vitality and glow with warmth. It is the absence of resonance in so many voices that gives them their lifeless sound.

What is meant by resonance? It means the vibration of the vocal sound in some particular chamber of the body. There are three of these chambers: one in the head, one in the chest, and one in the pharynx.

Voice is made up of two elements, body and soul. The body of the voice should be brought on the lips no matter what may be the pitch on which a person is speaking; but the soul, or resonance, should be placed in the distinctive chamber that will give the voice the particular color, or tone, that will convey by the sound the meaning of the words that are spoken.

The head resonance gives the bright, light colors to the voice that are expressive of exultation, joy, pleasure, happiness and all the lighter emotions. The chest resonance places in the voice the dark colors that convey to the mind of the listener sorrow, pain, solemnity, and all the deeper emotions. The resonance of the pharynx, or throat, gives the voice a neuter color that expresses no deep emotion or feel

ing. It is used in conveying ordinary ideas and unimpassioned emotions.

As You Think an Emotion, Your Voice Should Take the Resonance Which Will Express That Emotion

The body of the voice cannot enter the resonance chambers. They open only to the call of the soul. It is for this reason that when one is really in earnest, when he is speaking with deep conviction, the voice generally rings true, even though it has never been cultivated.

Mentality controls the resonance and causes it to occupy the chambers that will color the tone to the listeners exactly as it appears to the mind of the speaker. Think the emotion, or feel it, and unless there is something radically wrong with your voice, it will produce the tone that will convey the idea you have in mind or the emotion that you are experiencing. It is for this reason that you must control your emotions or you are likely to have them betray you. It is far better for a speaker to think an emotion than it is for him to feel it, as he is the master so long as he controls the thought, but he becomes the slave as soon as he gives way to the emotion.

Practice Coloring the Vowel Sounds

Color can be placed in the voice only on the vowel sounds. It is impossible to color consonants. Vowels