Mechanical Aspects of Oral Delivery
General Information:
The larynx or voicebox, is the opening of the trachea where it meets the pharynx. Its protrusion, with the thyroid cartilage, can be seen in the exterior of the throat, and is commonly called the "Adam’s apple." Containing the vocal cords, the larynx also enables vocalization by manipulating these cords to vibrate at a desired pitch when air is passed through the larynx. The pitch of the voice is highly dependent upon the elasticity and tension in these true vocal cords. When the tension on the vocal cords diminishes, a lower voice is the results.
The pharynx is the upper portion of the airway and the digestive tract. It connects with openings into four general areas: the mouth cavity (at the back of the tongue), the nasal cavity, the larynx (which leads to the trachea), and the esophagus. In swallowing, the nasal part of the pharynx, the larynx, and the mouth cavity cooperate to shut off the airway so that the swallowed food isn’t taken into the trachea..
The Vocal Cords are actual folds of muscles suspended horizontally in the larynx or voicebox. Sound is produced when the folds are brought together and air pushes through them., this is called phonation. This sound is carried through the throat into the mouth where it is amplified by the cavities of the mouth, nose, and throat, this is called resonation. In the following discussion Deborah, we will focus on relaxing, breathing, articulating, and integrating. Are you ready?... say a prayer and let’s begin!
Relaxing:
Proper relaxation is the first step to having a well coordinated voice. The muscles in your face, tongue, jaw, chin, throat, and neck affect the muscles that control your vocal folds. You must relax these muscles. If the muscles of the throat and mouth are too tense, the vocal mechanism will be cramped, resulting in poor speaking quality. The goal is to relax the muscles around the throat (extrinsic muscles) because these muscles impact the intrinsic muscles within the larynx.
Ways to Relax
| 1. |
Tense every muscle in your body then relax them.
Don’t forget to exercise at least twice a week. Walking is a good way to restart. |
| 2. | Wear a loose fitting collar because the throat has a tendency to enlarge with a lot of speaking. |
| 3. | Go over the notes on the music scale as a way of warming up your voice. You can do this as you are driving to work. |
| 4. | Find a quiet place for a few minutes before you go on the air. Clear your thoughts and begin to massage very gently the muscles in your face and throat. Be sure to include the Adam’s apple. Swallow a few times after this. |
Breathing:
The key to a smoothly functioning vocal mechanism is proper breathing. When you breath correctly this relaxes the extrinsic muscles. The kind of breathing needed for speech is different than that needed for biological, and physical. The best breathing for speaking is abdominal breathing. You can tell of your breathing is abdominal. Place your hand upon your upper chest. Inhale and quote John 3:16. If your upper chest expand then your not breathing abdominal. Now place your had on you abdomen and quote the same verse again. If these muscles expand then your are doing it right.
You should only breathe deeply enough to complete your sentence with good support and emphasis. Excessive deep breathing don’t accomplish much. Remember to breathe from your abdomen.
One of the primary purposes in learning to breathe correctly is to enable you to replenish your air supply quickly, without disturbing your flow of words. Learn to take your deepest breaths between sentences. It al to take "teacup" breaths along the way.
Breathing Exercises:
| 1. | Observe good speakers, notice that they seem to have a reserve of breath that enables him to release air when he feels the need for emphasis. |
| 2. |
Inhale as though you are about to speak. Hold the breath inhaled silently for a moment. Imagine you are speaking a simple word or phrase. Release the breath and let the air flow out gradually, without forcing.
Repeat this exercise, gradually increasing the time. |
| 3. |
Inhale a sufficient supply of air. Then exhale using a single word or vowel such as ah, oh, e, u. Maintain the tone as long as your breath will allow.
Repeat this exercise. This time speak a series of numbers such as one, two, three, four, five in sequence. Etc. |
| 4. |
The following will help to increase your capacity for adequate breath for speaking.
This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. (10 seconds) This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. (12 seconds) This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. (15 seconds) This is the man all tattered and torn who helped the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. (17 seconds) This is the priest all shaven and shorn that guided the man all tattered and torn who helped the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. (20 seconds) |
Articulating:
This is the process that happens when the air vibrates in the mouth and nose is modified by the tongue, the lower jaw, the lips, and the hard and soft palates. This is the process that transfer mere sound into speech.
Vowels and constants are closely related to articulation.
Vowels are sounds formed in the resonating cavities as air flow through the mouth.
Constants are the bones of speech and consist of three zones of articulation.
Zone 1 - Between the lower lips and the upper front teeth.
Zone 2 - Between the front teeth, the tip of the tongue, and the hard palate behind the teeth.
Zone 3 - Formed by the back of the tongue and the soft palate.
Ways to improve Articulation:
One of the ways to improve articulation to develop greater flexibility in the tongue , lips, and jaw. First purse your lips and move them in all possible directions.
Next draw the lips back and forth and then purse them.
Stick your tongue out as far as you can, then touch your lower and upper lip. Move your tongue from side to side. Rotate the tip slowly around your lips from left to right. Lift the tongue tip to the hard palate, then slowly relax it .
Chewing gum and talking also helps.
Articulation Drill:
Retreating and beating and meeting and cheating,
delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
recalling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,
and gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
and rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,
and flapping and arraying and clapping and slapping,
and curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
and thumping and plumping and dumping and jumping,
and dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing,
and so never ending, but always descending, sounds and motions
forever and ever are blending, all at once and all o’ver with a mighty uproar;
and this way the water comes down at the Lodore.
Integrating:
The vocal aspects of speaking must be properly integrated for the message to be effective.
Four Important set of variables:
Rate and Pace
Rate has to do with the speed with which we speak. Each person has his own rate. The norm is between 120 to 160 words per minute. Rapid speaking lead to your listeners not clearly understanding you. Some people speak fast because they are quick thinkers however an effective way to handle this is with a pause. Rapid speaking could also indicate neverousness, lack of ease, personal insecurity and uncertainty. Speaking to slow is also bad. The goal is to use a variety, the rate should never be constant. Less important statements may be spoken quickly, but slow down for important statements that you want to emphasize.
Pace
Pace is the sense of overall movement. The long distance runner must pace herself. In other words there is a flow or a spiritual groove. The thoughts and emotions conveyed would alter pacing as you proceed through the time on the air. Reflect a similar rate and pace as in everyday speech.
Volume and Stress:
Volume is the amount of sound you use to say what you need to say. The key to volume is again variety. Volume should be governed by content. A change in volume indicate importance or can be used to emphasis important ideas.
Stress is considered the intensity or the force used to speak words. We stress a word by making it stand out in a phrase. We do this by means of higher pitch. Longer duration of tone, or increase in volume.
Pitch and Inflection
Pitch relates to the movement of the voice up and down the scale in different registers with various inflections. It is the melody of your voice.
Habitual pitch is the level on the scale at which you most often speak.
Optimum pitch is the level at which your voice functions best.
The pitch range should be distributed over a range of two octaves.
Inflection is a change of pitch within a syllable or word. Use this to draw pictures with your words. The direction of the inflection indicates what you are trying to say. A rising inflection suggest question, doubt, uncertainty, or incompleteness. Downward inflection indicate a thought is completed. A flat inflection indicate disappointment or disgust.
Length of inflection is also important. Abruptness of inflection is also important. A gradual change indicate calmness, repose, contemplation and command. An abrupt inflection indicate excitement, intensity, and vigor.
Proper reflection maybe achieve through clear thinking about what you are going to say.
Phrasing and Pause
Phrasing are packets of thoughts delivered to the audience as a packet. This enable the speaker to express her thoughts clearly and enable the listeners to understand. Breathing must be coordinated with phrases so that the thought unit will not be interrupted as the speaker stops for breaths.
Pauses are the punctuation marks of speech. Sometimes by our silence, we speak. Pauses permit variety on the voice. They help prevent the rate from becoming to fast. They help to regulate the pace so that the conversation with the audience is convincing. Pauses help the speaker from keep her pitch from rising to high. A pause is not to be confused with hesitation(empty silence - the silence of frozen forgetting).
For the speaker the pause look forward, for the audience the pause enable them to look backward.