0907 – The Vocal Effect Of Mic Fright

2023.06.26 – 0907 – The Vocal Effect Of Mic Fright

Vocally:

·        When stressed, the muscles that control the larynx can become tense.[1] (Periods of prolonged muscle tension in the larynx can lead to a lack of coordination of the vocal control system that can cause vocal fatigue and even vocal damage.)

·        Tension is likely to harden surfaces and make them smaller. So, holding your shoulders and throat in this state, and having a jaw that’s barely opening, will make any vocalisation higher and thinner and with less resonance

·        A lack of breath support will likely make the voice higher in tone; flatter in prosody, quieter in volume, shakier in authority

·        You run out of what little breath you have, so, you read faster to get to the end of a sentence before you need to take another breath, resulting in gabbling

·        Gabbling can lead to speed-induced speaking errors: you trip up over your words

·        A drier mouth may mean less-precise articulation of words, it’ll simply be more difficult to move your tongue to form the words

·        The mental ‘brain fog’ may cause slower speech, mispronounced words, script hesitations or slow adlib reaction times

You will hear the results of stress in your voice, in your headphones … causing more stress both in the moment and longer term:

·        Anxiety causes more anxiety, which may lead to

o  A lack of sleep (either not being able to drop off, or waking up early or intermittently

§ Leading to reduced energy levels

·        The possible use of alcohol or drugs to get to sleep or stay awake

o  Difficulty exercising or eating properly

o  A dull, tired sounding voice

[1] A tense throat is almost your body’s way of saying “I don’t want you to say anything in case you embarrass yourself”.

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