May 12 2009
Voice for singing versus public speaking
I have worked with people’s voices for both public speaking and singing. The question I want to address today is, what is the difference between using your voice for singing or public speaking and what kind of training do you need for both?
Singing is an activity that requires training muscles to be agile and strong as in sports. A well-trained singing voice is flexible, with lots of range and good timbre or tone. For singing, one must learn to sustain pitches, create a wide range, and have control over volume. These three things take a great deal of practice as well as muscle-training, and the more control you want the more training and practice you need. Then there is the question of style. There are many styles of singing and many styles of music. Each one requires study and practice.
Public Speaking requires a knowledge of the voice that is similar to singing, but different. A public speaker needs to learn about basic resonance and breath control, but not as much about range and control. A public speaker does not have to sustain pitches but they do have to endurance. A public speaker has more challenges with vocal health because of the stamina required to speak for hours. Then there is the awareness of how the sound of their voice affects the listener and the challenge of inflections, and their vocal image, which is similar to interpretation for singers, but not quite as involved.
In truth, I believe that if you want to be a great public speaker with a strong, healthy voice, you will want to study singing. You don’t have to, as you can just use some of the things singers do to get your voice in better shape and you will get along fine. But there is no question that someone who sings will have a better speaking voice and more ability to do with it what they want than someone who does not sing.
Besides, singing is good for you. Stay tuned for more on that topic…
