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How to Train Your Vocal Cords to Improve Speech

Professional singers spend countless hours training and exercising their voices. Others may use such training to improve speaking ability such as stamina, resonance, breath control, volume and enunciation. Various physical components -- such as the lips; tongue; diaphragm; and larynx, or voice box -- work together to create speech, but a primary component is the vocal cords: membranes that stretch across the larynx and vibrate as air passes across them. Exercising the vocal cords helps speakers learn to control the tone, volume and clarity of the voice.

Instructions

- 1
  Hum. Making noise with your lips closed causes the vocal cords to vibrate and is one exercise for stimulating the vocal cords. Start with a single tone that is easy for you to make, then vary the pitch higher and lower to further stimulate the vocal cords.
- 2
  Inhale as you yawn, and vocalize as you blow the air out of your lungs. Breathe slowly, counting to five as you exhale, and change the pitch of the sound coming out as you release the air.
- 3
  Speak the vowel sounds. Start by saying them in your normal voice. Then run through them several more times, changing the pitch or volume with each sound.
- 4
  Slide through your range to work on expanding it and to strengthen your vocal cords. Start at the lowest pitch you can create, then slide upward as high as possible using sounds such as "mi,mi, mi" or words.

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