Caroline Goyder
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Caroline
    • TEAM
    • Books
    • TEDx
    • TESTIMONIALS
  • COURSES & PRODUCTS
    • RESOURCES
    • Video Courses – NEW!
    • GRAVITAS ONLINE TRAINING
    • GRAVITAS & CONFIDENCE TRAINING
    • Books
    • Audible Readers Gallery
    • DIGITAL VOICE COACH
    • Gravitas Method audio course
      • audio series one: find your gravitas
      • AUDIO SERIES TWO – MEETINGS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES THREE – PHONE CALLS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES FOUR – PITCHES WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES FIVE – PRESENTATIONS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES BUNDLE – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
      • MINI AUDIO DOWNLOADS
    • MINI AUDIO DOWNLOADS
  • WORK WITH US
    • book Caroline to speak
    • Book Coaching With Us
    • book caroline for training
  • BLOG
    • BLOG
    • VIDEO BLOG
  • in the press
  • Contact

Caroline Goyder

Banner
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Caroline
    • TEAM
    • Books
    • TEDx
    • TESTIMONIALS
  • COURSES & PRODUCTS
    • RESOURCES
    • Video Courses – NEW!
    • GRAVITAS ONLINE TRAINING
    • GRAVITAS & CONFIDENCE TRAINING
    • Books
    • Audible Readers Gallery
    • DIGITAL VOICE COACH
    • Gravitas Method audio course
      • audio series one: find your gravitas
      • AUDIO SERIES TWO – MEETINGS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES THREE – PHONE CALLS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES FOUR – PITCHES WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES FIVE – PRESENTATIONS WITH GRAVITAS
      • AUDIO SERIES BUNDLE – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
      • MINI AUDIO DOWNLOADS
    • MINI AUDIO DOWNLOADS
  • WORK WITH US
    • book Caroline to speak
    • Book Coaching With Us
    • book caroline for training
  • BLOG
    • BLOG
    • VIDEO BLOG
  • in the press
  • Contact

Why does my voice tighten when I get nervous

written by GoyderCaroline

Thank you for a really good question. It’s not fun to feel the power of your voice desert you, thinning and tightening and wavering just at the very moment you need its full bodied support.

 

So why the tightness?

Public speaking is a high stakes activity (It doesn’t help to call it public speaking but that is for a different email.) And high stakes activities cause stress and muscular tension. You notice it in your shoulders and jaw, and it’s also there in your stomach, upper chest, throat and tongue.

This is the tightness strangling the life out of your voice under pressure.

26367979_1645786527VExUntitled.pngIt starts with the tension in the muscles that support your breathing. All speech is out breath. As your stomach tenses to ready itself for action it makes it harder to breathe in a relaxed diaphragmatic way. Instead you pull the breath into the upper chest, and the richness of your voice gets squeezed and strangulated like an old tube of toothpaste.

The tension also finds its way into the space where your voice is resonated, the pharynx (aka throat) and the tongue. This has the impact of closing everything down and dampening down your resonance. You go from a body capable of great big double bass sound to that of a school recorder.

Knowing this gives you enormous power to take control of what’s happening to your voice and open it right back up again. The sequence below is something I consciously practise:

First normalise the nerves, (so you can stop worrying about being nervous – big waste of energy there). Remind yourself nerves are normal, and beyond that they can be massively performance enhancing.

Then consciously do what’s called “soft belly breathing”, as described by the psychiatrist and trauma specialist James Gordon.

  • Relax your shoulders and jaw.
  • Put your hand on your tummy (this works well for virtual meetings, not so well
    for face to face ones where you may need to imagine that hand on your tummy).
  • When you breathe in, think “soft”,  feel the tummy move away from the spine.
  • When you breathe out think “belly” and feel the stomach move back to the spine.
  • As your body softens and relaxes notice your tongue relax and soften in your mouth.
  • Let the jaw be heavy, feel space between the back teeth.
  • If you can do it a big yawn is the best reset for your nervous system and at the same time a wonderful stretch for the pharynx. The “polite” version of a yawn where you do the inner stretch with your mouth closed is a good substitute.

Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on.

I shared a short video about this earlier in the week which you can watch by clicking on the link below.

Why does my voice tighten when I get nervous? 😶

 

To watch my weekly videos please subscribe to my Youtube channel so you receive a little notification each time a video is released.

Why does my voice tighten when I get nervous was last modified: May 17th, 2022 by GoyderCaroline
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

You may also like

Want to feel more in control and...

Spark Joy in your listeners

How do you get the spark back?

Caroline on Twitter

  • Every pilot knows you have to make sure you put your own life jacket on before you help others. Your ability to man… https://t.co/40L39myjtT

    09-Aug-2022

    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • The ancients saw much of the training they put their athletes and orators through as skills for self-management.Whe… https://t.co/qKslknP6Mu

    09-Aug-2022

    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • Take your time, don't be afraid to take it slowly...https://t.co/JOAXHKkVjX https://t.co/3S5QkYkEk5

    08-Aug-2022

    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • Does the language you speak affect how you speak? Interesting piece. https://t.co/l83T5nN1VS https://t.co/Q5eQPLTy8i

    08-Aug-2022

    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • I know that feeling of not being confident when you speak, butterflies in your stomach, shakes in your voice, impos… https://t.co/TGgVC1fEEC

    08-Aug-2022

    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube
  • Email
Footer Logo

@2021 - Caroline Goyder. All Right Reserved. Web Developed by TCREATIVE


Back To Top