Vocal Warmups to Get Your Voice Going in the Morning
Currently in the Pacific Time Zone, I’m up a little later than my friends and colleagues in the Eastern Time Zone where most of my voice over work comes from… That means, if I wake at 6am Pacific, it’s already 9am Eastern and scripts are popping up, work is moving…but, my voice is not.
Vocal warmups are now more important than ever for me, since I often have to hit the ground running vocally in the mornings. Once everyone has cleared out of the house, my first order of business is to vocally warm up as best as I can, as quickly as I can!
Some great ideas for vocal warm-ups for anyone needing to sound articulate and professional in the morning are humming musical scales (or any song), as well as, reciting tongue twisters. I find some vocal exercises even more effective when I’m folded forward, with my head hanging upside down. Drinking a warm beverage is also beneficial, though I’m particular about mine depending on the acidity and sugar levels. Certain herbal teas like Throat Coat or Ginger tea or any mild flavored tea works for me and strangely, hot chocolate (one that’s not too sweet) is also helpful for me.
(Here are 7 Voice-Over Warm Ups to Prepare your Voice to Perform at its Best by Michael Langsner.)
Wanna take it to another level? Vocal Yoga. Here I thought I was coming up with something unique, a marriage of my two passions – the voice and Yoga – and it’s actually already a “thing”. The point is that breath techniques, gentle stretching, and other aspects of Yoga work can help support our voices and can be dramatically beneficial to our sound and ability to communicate. Much to learn and share!
Summary of warm up ideas:
- Humming musical scales
- Reciting tongue twisters
- Doing specific vocal warm-ups such as these from Michael Langsner VO.
- Folding forward, hang head upside down while humming scales.
- Drinking a warm beverage i.e. herbal tea, warm water, (water-based, lightly sweet hot chocolate works for me! Go figure.)
And, when all else fails, I make sure I spray a good shot of VOcal Throat Spray (sold here). I’m not an affiliate for the product. Simply a big fan.
How do you wake up your voice in the morning?
(Updated from original Nov 2015 post)
Vocal Yoga??? I am going to check that out! J
Terri Thelin
*From:* Your Work Is All I Talk About! [mailto:comment-reply@wordpress.com] *Sent:* Tuesday, November 17, 2015 4:55 PM *To:* tthelin@nbc29.com *Subject:* [New post] Simple ways to sound professional in the morning
natashamarchewka posted: ” Good Morning Starshine* (audio version of blog below) Now in the Pacific Time Zone, I’m up a little later than my friends and colleagues in the Eastern Time Zone where most of my voice work comes from… This means, if I wake at 6am, it’s already 9 an”
Of course I think this post is awesome. Everyone who needs to talk to customers or prospects in any way should warm up their voice. How we sound it such an important part of how and why people engage with us. Thanks for this very helpful information, Natasha.
What a wonderful article! I loved the link to the warmup. I’m going to start doing that more often now. I typically do a humming warm up but its nice to change it up.
Glad you enjoyed and received something new, Diana! 🙂