How to Banish Morning Voice and Start Your Day with Confidence
When speaking, the essential tool you use is your voice. With your voice, you can connect with everyone. A strong, clear voice is vital for confident speechmaking. Meanwhile, effective communication helps you deliver your ideas, engage, and get the audience's interest.
People should take measures to prevent having a hoarse, raspy, tired voice so as not to ruin their plans to deliver a speech. In light of this, people must prevent what is commonly called "morning voice."
Morning voice happens when your vocal cords are tight and dry. Your voice may have a hoarse or throaty quality when you wake up. Having a morning voice makes it harder to speak loudly or project your voice and be heard clearly.
Fortunately, you can do some things to avoid having a morning voice. But first, let's consider more the factors causing a morning voice. Then, let's prepare your voice for your speech by considering the tips to avoid having a raspy voice for clear and confident communication.
Table of Contents
- What Can Make a Voice Raspy?
- Tips for Improving Morning Voice Quality
- The Struggle with Sore Throat
- Good Habits
What Can Make a Voice Raspy?
For any public speaker or presenter, vocal health is a vital aspect to take care of in the same way we care for the rest of our bodies. That's why, if you often notice having a dry throat, doing frequent throat clearing, or having a raspy voice, it's important to head on to your trusted throat specialist for advice. A hoarse voice can result from various lifestyle and uncontrollable factors, including but not limited to:
Lack of Sleep
Not enough sleep can cause a raspy voice for the big day. Lack of sleep will cause your vocal cords to become dry and irritated. Vocal cords produce sounds used for speech, and if they're dry and irritated because you didn't get enough sleep, you're more like to experience a raspy and hoarse voice when speaking.
Dehydration
When sleeping, your body naturally loses some water through sweat and respiration, which can result in a loss of vocal lubrication. Your voice will sound dry and harsh if you do not drink enough fluids.
Your Environment
Are you in or sleeping in dry, heated, or air-conditioned air? Your vocal folds can become inflamed and swollen when the air in your sleeping environment is dry. Dry air can also be caused by air conditioning, heating, and you will definitely feel it if you sleep with your mouth open.
Using a humidifier can benefit some people, particularly those who live in dry environments or experience symptoms of morning voice. A humidifier provides additional moisture to the air, which relieves dryness and irritation in the respiratory system, including the vocal cords. It helps protect your throat at night so you can speak without that raspy voice tomorrow.
You can determine the relative humidity of the air using a hygrometer. You should have your humidifier on when the humidity falls below 45%.
Acid Reflux
Acid reflux is one the most common medical conditions that cause harsh, tired, deep voices. When acid reflux affects the esophagus, it irritates the throat tissues, causing hoarse or raspy voice symptoms.
To avoid acid reflux and protect your voice for speech, avoid triggers such as spicy foods, fatty foods, or anything acidic, and opt for more alkaline and low-fat options. Also, avoid eating late at night because gravity can no longer keep stomach acid down, creating acid reflux and causing morning voice.
Allergies
Allergic reactions can cause inflammatory conditions in the airways, especially the throat area and vocal cords. Because of the inflammation, you could experience vocal symptoms like a hoarse or raspy voice, trouble projecting your voice, etc. However, effective allergy management and appropriate vocal hygiene practices can alleviate this condition.
Tips for Improving Morning Voice Quality
The groggy morning voice is familiar to many of us. However, if you wake up with a raspy voice and want to speak clearly, here are some simple tips to help you take care of your vocal cords and ensure that you don't have a morning voice:
Avoid coffee and caffeinated drinks
We all love coffee. It is the most loved hot beverage as it completes our mornings. However, caffeine is a diuretic, which can cause dehydration in your body, affecting the vocal cords and can cause your voice to sound hoarse or raspy. Coffee can also cause acid reflux, irritating your vocal folds and leading to inflammation and swelling.
Drinking coffee in moderation and ensuring that you stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water can help if you really need that cup of coffee. However, limiting or avoiding your consumption may be best to prevent vocal strain and maintain a healthy voice when speaking.
Avoid alcoholic drinks
Drinking alcohol can dehydrate you, making your voice hoarse the following day. The body excretes more fluid than you take in when drinking alcohol, which leads to dehydration. Of course, when the vocal folds are dehydrated, they can become swollen, irritated, and dry, which impedes their ability to vibrate and make sound properly.
Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to acid reflux; we already know what will happen next. If you want to protect your speaking voice from making it raspy, avoid drinking alcohol, especially the night before a big presentation, to ensure you can deliver your message clearly during a speech.
Warm up your voice
Do you start talking immediately in your morning voice or allow it to warm up during the morning? Suppose your morning voice is particularly hoarse. In that case, you should wait a few minutes or drink some water to help alleviate any discomfort or difficulty speaking.
Since your vocal folds have rested for many hours while sleeping, your voice sounds deeper in the morning. Your dry, swollen cords may become even more irritated if you talk very loudly for a long time. Give your voice time to rehydrate and rejuvenate by drinking warm water for a clear voice throughout the day.
Straw warm-ups have become a great option for singers and speakers alike to soothe the vocal folds and help a tired voice. Consider trying my free straw warm-up course to get your voice aligned and working properly.
Morning shower
A warm morning shower may help alleviate the morning voice. Hot water with lots of steam for inhalation and deep breathing is excellent for improving your voice quality. This is an effective way to quickly lubricate the throat and soften a husky voice before speaking.
Avoid any strain on your vocal cords
Stop yelling too much, screaming, or singing for extended periods if you want to protect your voice for an important speech or presentation. Our vocal folds are delicate and vital to our voice production. If we use our voices loudly and excessively, it can strain our vocal folds, causing them to become inflamed and swollen. This can lead to a raspy or hoarse voice.
To prevent vocal cord strain, hoarseness, and difficulty speaking, practice good vocal hygiene. Stay hydrated, avoid smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, and take breaks when speaking or singing for long periods.
Prepare your voice
The night before giving a speech, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol. Get a good night's sleep, and drink warm water with honey and lemon in the morning. Avoid caffeinated beverages. Gargle with warm salt water right before you speak.
The Struggle with Sore Throat
It's irritating to have a sore throat or persistent hoarseness, especially when you have a speech to do. Sore throats make speaking and swallowing difficult, making daily tasks more challenging.
What causes a sore throat? Allergies, viral infections, and bacterial infections can all cause a sore throat. Extreme inflammation can even lead to temporary voice loss. That's why drinking plenty of water, gargling with salt water, and using over-the-counter pain relievers are recommended to ease the discomfort. It's critical to contact a doctor if your sore throat persists or is paired with other symptoms.
Your overall well-being depends on maintaining good health and addressing health difficulties. Give your voice plenty of time to heal before speaking. For faster healing, be more disciplined and patient. That will help you restore your voice in a matter of time.
Good Habits
We all want to give our best when delivering our messages to the crowd, and our voice is a big help for a successful speech. But distractions in the form of a morning voice can be challenging, impacting our confidence when speaking publicly. Fortunately, we can protect our voices with simple steps and developing good habits and routines.
Knowing the cause of a raspy voice and following the ways to mitigate the discomfort it brings, you'll be better prepared to speak confidently and avoid the dreaded morning voice for a productive day!
If you would like to develop your public speaking techniques, check out my Compelling Speaker program. And if you are interested in online vocal lessons, you can reach out to our front desk at [email protected], and we would be happy to answer your questions.
