You know that moment; your name gets called, you stand up, your heart starts pounding like it’s trying to escape your rib cage… and then your voice comes out of your mouth sounding like your throat is receiving a text message. 🤦
If you’ve ever thought, “Why does my voice betray me like this?”, you’re not alone! Controlling nerves before speaking in public is one of the most common questions I get asked on social media.
Here’s what I tell them.
Why Your Voice Shakes When Presenting
When your voice starts trembling, it’s almost never just your voice.
It’s your whole body going:
“Are we… fighting something? Running from something? A wild bear? No? Are you sure?”
Your nervous system doesn’t understand modern public speaking. It only understands perceived threats, so your brain releases tonnes of adrenaline, preparing you for either:
Fight 👊 or
Flight 🏃♂️
When adrenaline builds up and you don’t use it, your breath shortens and your muscles (including those controlling your voice) begin to tense up.
I’ll show you!
Try this:
- Hold your hand out in front of you and clench it hard. 👊
- Keep tensing it… harder… harder…
- Notice what happens? I’m willing to bet your hand began to shake.
When your body tenses, your muscles vibrate and therefore your voice shakes.
How To Stop Your Voice From Shaking During A Presentation
The secret to presenting with a calm, controlled voice is to burn off the excess adrenaline before you speak.
For most people, this can be as simple as going for a brisk 5 minute walk or practicing breathing exercises like Wim Hof’s Guided Bubble Breathing technique before your next presentation. (weird name I know, but trust me it’s a powerful tool for relaxing your mind and body).
If your voice still shakes, it’s because your vocal muscles are still tense.
Here’s a couple of extra exercises you can try to relax your vocal muscles and regain control of your voice on stage:
- Yawning: a loud, exaggerated yawn is a great way to relax the muscles that control your voice.
- Tongue Rotations: Moving your tongue around your mouth (21 times to the left and 21 times to the right) is a really great technique for relaxing your tongue.
- EEEE’s and OOOO’s: Make the sounds EEEE followed by OOOO (Kinda like a lazy donkey) for 1 minute – focusing on really accentuating your mouth movements.
Try these tips next time you’re feeling anxious before speaking in public and I’m confident you’ll find yourself feeling much more relaxed and in control of your vocal delivery.
