The Fundamentals of How the Voice Works

When it comes to speaking skills, you have an instrument.

That instrument is the voice.

The basic understanding of the voice is:

• Something that produces sound.

That’s a very surface-level understanding.

Wouldn’t it be fascinating to understand the in-depth components of this field?

No longer will the voice be a mystery.

Now, we will understand the fundamentals of how the voice works.

4 Components of the Voice

The 4 components of the voice are:

• Breath
• Vocal Cords
• Resonator
• Articulators

Let’s go through each one to understand how the voice works.

Breath

The breath is the energy.

Without the energy, you got nothing.

Picture a guy who is simply moving his lips.

The breath is like the electricity for a computer.

With the life force, everything else builds on top of that.

The Vocal Cords

The vocal cords turn the:

• Breath -> Sound

If your breath is too weak, then no sound will be created.

Imagine a guy blowing in someone’s ear.

There is breath.

But due to the weakness of the pressure, barely any sound is being generated.

When the breath is strong, the sound becomes active.

Resonator

The resonator is your mouth.

This is where all the sound is gathered into 1 location.

Imagine it’s raining.

Trying to hydrate yourself with the splashes of pouring rain will be tough.

It’d be much easier if you got a glass & filled it up with the rain.

You gathered the rain into 1 location.

The resonator allows you to gather your voice into 1 location.

Articulators

The articulators are the lips and tongue.

This is what turns the raw sound into understandable words.

Without articulators, your voice would be 1 large blob.

No meaning.

But with the lips and tongue, you are able to create precise meaning that impacts society.

Making sense so far?

‘Yessir.’

The Hidden Component the Voice

Technically, you are done with this article.

No need to read further.

Now you understand how the voice works.

However, you may FEEL like 1 thing is missing.

‘I did notice that. But I can’t put it into words. What is missing?’

The mind.

The mind is connected to the voice just like the software is connected to the hardware.

For the voice to be generated, you need a thought in the mind.

That thought is what activates the articulation process.

Plenty of times, when someone is focusing on fixing their voice, the first thing they do is focus on the physical components.

Often, they’ll go straight to the articulators.

Aka: Take enunciation classes.

Advanced people work on their breath control.

To make sure they are breathing in sync.

But very few people factor in their mind.

Does the speaker feel like they are worthy of speaking?

This is a profound question.

And it’s a question which highlights why it’s foolish to separate self-improvement from speaking skills.

How to Improve Your Voice

‘How do I improve my voice?’

What do you mean by improving?

‘Uh…’

When it comes to improving the voice, you need to understand what ‘improvement’ looks like.

Imagine if Alison is trying to get a deep voice because her little brother, Tommy, is trying to get a deep voice.

Or if Tommy is trying to get a softer voice just because that’s what Alison is trying to do.

That’d be ridiculous!

Therefore, envision what a good voice sounds like to you.

Ironically, one of the best ways to build a better voice is through the ears.

Keep your ears open for voices that you consider pleasant & not pleasant.

By doing this, you build your vocal vocabulary.

Which will make it easier to set direction when trying to improve your own voice.

From there, you need to do something everyone hates.

‘Which is?

Listen to the sound of your voice.

Hate the Sound of Your Voice?

Humans are naturally predisposed to have a cringe feeling towards their voice.

They’re in shock when they hear themselves for the first time.

You can run, but you can’t hide from the sound of your voice.

When smartphones were first becoming a thing in 2007ish, I recall most of the clips we could record were only 8 seconds.

Since the clips were so short, we’d normally focus on the outer world.

Take pictures of nature, buildings, and events.

However, as time passed, information technology became more advanced.

The 8 seconds turned into 8 minutes.

As the recording time expanded, we began turning the camera around.

Either we recorded ourselves or someone else would record us.

There is no hiding.

Listen to your voice.

‘What if it makes me cringe?’

That’s a good thing!

It’s sort of like a bicep curl in the gym.

If you feel comfortable the entire time when you do a bicep curl, is that good?

‘Nah, not really.’

Why not?

‘Because I’m not growing.’

Same with the voice.

You will never be fully satisfied with the voice.

Hopefully, you always cringe when hearing yourself talk.

That’s equivalent to mental bicep curls.

You’ll work on 1 setback of your voice to only discover 2 more.

This may seem problematic at first.

But the closer you look, the more you’ll see that ‘improving your voice’ is a code for ‘lifelong leveling up.’

Sharpen your #1 Instrument

Want to know something?

‘What?’

A lot of people don’t have a voice.

‘Don’t have a voice? That’s ridiculous!

No, I’m serious.

Either they are a mute, or they suffer from severe levels of vocal paralysis which prevents them from sharing their ideas.

That’s perspective for you…

When you realize that others don’t have a voice, you start to feel much more grateful for the instrument that nature has blessed you with.

It’d be a damn shame if you never learned to play it.

4 parts:

• Breath, vocal cords, resonator, and articulators.

And the behind-the-scenes conductor:

• The mind.

Get these variables in alignment and level up your speaking skills!

Want to know more about how to speak better?

Then be sure to grab:

Speak Easy: How to be More Articulate, Assertive & Audacious Around People

Ebook

Paperback/Kindle

Audiobook

– ArmaniTalks