I hear it on a daily basis. People complaining to me that they are constantly hoarse, have a persistent sore throat, or lose their voice by the end of the day. The one I just read about is a young man who wants to speak louder in the clubs without hurting his throat.
Unfortunately, vocal abuse is a real and growing problem for people who use their voice heavily throughout the day or who are in loud environments and resort to shouting to be heard. The result is often damage to the vocal folds (cords) which may be permanent if it happens often enough.
A woman who teaches high school music has done serious damage to her vocal folds in which she has developed nodes or nodules on those delicate organs. Sadly, unless she stops talking for several months, her vocal abuse will not go away.
When singers get vocal abuse, like Celine Dion, they stop singing, sometimes for as long as a year, in order to heal the folds. And, surgery may be required for some, like Julie Andrews.
While vocal abuse occurs more often to the older voice, I am surprised at how much more of it I am seeing in the younger generations. If you go clubbing 2 or 3 times a week and are shouting to be heard for several hours at a time, you are placing your voice in a most precarious position. A few people may be able to yell continually and never have a problem. For most people, however, this is not the case.
Young and old alike are feeling the pain, whether it is due to rooting for your favorite sports team, trying to be heard at the club, running training seminars and workshops for hours on end, or just talking on the phone all day long. The amount of vocal abuse is increasing like never before. Loud times require loud volume and, if not done properly, your loud volume will affect your throat and vocal folds.
What is interesting is that the young man I mentioned in the 1st paragraph has read a lot of books on voice and not one has told him how to increase his volume. This has always fascinated me because one of the most important things I teach is something called projection. Projection means speaking with a bigger voice, powered by your chest cavity, and does not hurt your throat or vocal folds (cords). No, it is not ‘loud,’ just larger in volume.
If you need a voice that you can depend on for whatever the occasion, learn how to project your voice. The benefits will amaze you. Not only will you immediately reduce the strain on your throat, but you will discover a richer, warmer, deeper speaking voice in the process.
The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit Nancy's Voice Training site at Voice Dynamic and discover The Power of Your Voice or watch as she describes in more detail The Truth About Vocal Abuse.