5 Tips to Stop Losing Your Voice in Online Meetings

Even as we begin to venture back into offices, many of us are still finding ourselves speaking in online meetings for hours a day as hybrid working embeds itself further into our work culture.

People who have never experienced vocal issues before are reporting getting croaky towards the end of a day of online meetings, or even losing their voice completely. Often all that’s needed to avoid this is a few tweaks to your technique or daily behaviours. Read on to find out how you can avoid losing your voice, no matter what your online meeting schedule looks like.

1. Alignment

The relationship between your head and your neck is paramount when it comes to maintaining a healthy voice, as misalignment plays havoc with the muscles and ligaments in and around the larynx (the structure in your throat where your vocal cords live!).

When you’re speaking online, start by sitting towards the front of your chair and placing both feet on the floor. Notice how much space there is between the top of your hips and the bottom of your ribs. You want an easy feeling of space there, neither too slumped nor too pulled up, as this can let unnecessary tension sneak in.

Keep some attention on your chin as you speak. There’s often a tendency to lean in towards the camera and to jut your chin forward. Aim to feel as though your head is floating above your neck, and for your ears to be in line with your shoulders.

Throughout the meeting monitor your alignment regularly to check you haven’t fallen back into an old pattern. It’s also worth checking your desk and camera set-up to ensure it’s not causing you to tilt your head up or down to see or be seen.

2. Relax

Unnecessary tension is often the primary suspect in the case of the missing voice. If we’re holding excess tension in the body, it gets in the way of the function of our vocal apparatus. Awareness of where we hold this tension, and when it arises, is key to beginning to tackle it. Do you find your shoulders creeping up towards your ears the longer you’re online? Maybe you tighten your abdominals when it’s your turn to speak?

There are lots of different ways to release tension - one of the easiest is to include some light movement and stretching into your working day. Even a minute or two can make a huge difference. Before your meeting, get up from your desk and give your body a shake. Lift your shoulders up to your ears and roll them back a few times. When you’re speaking, focus on keeping your abdominal muscles relaxed. Let the breath drop deep into your body rather than breathing into the chest.

3. Check your volume

We have a tendency to speak with more volume online, as we’re unsure how loudly or clearly we’re being heard through the computer. This leads to the voice tiring much more quickly than in normal everyday conversation.

If you’re the main speaker or presenter for a meeting, see if you can get online a few minutes early with a trusted colleague to ask for feedback on your volume. This should give you peace of mind that you can be heard whilst speaking at your regular volume. You can also adjust your speaker input on lots of different video platforms. If you’re worried about being heard, concentrate on speaking clearly rather than more loudly. Efficient articulation at the start and end of words helps mitigate the need for you to raise your voice to be heard.

4. Take breaks and take care of yourself

Your voice wasn’t designed to speak for hours on end, and definitely not at the raised intensity that online video calls and presentations sometimes demand. Plan time into your schedule to take a break from using your voice. Five to ten minutes of silence every hour will make all the difference.

As the voice is created in the body, it’s important to keep your body in good working order. A healthy body helps support a healthy voice! Rest, nutrition and movement all play a part. If you’ve got a heavy day of meetings coming up, prioritise getting a solid 7 - 8 hours of sleep the night before if possible. Eating nutritious food and moving the body each day will also help.

5. Hydrate

For your voice to work optimally, you need to be well hydrated. Even low levels of dehydration in the body can make it much tougher for the vocal cords to vibrate together effectively and efficiently. It can take a few hours for the fluid you drink to reach your vocal cords so don’t leave it until you feel thirsty to reach for a refreshment. Drink a glass or two of fluid upon waking and then top up regularly throughout the day. Whilst water tends to be the go-to beverage of most professional voice users, most fluids count - even caffeinated beverages!

A final note

Most of us lose our voice from time to time and it’s usually nothing to worry about, but if your voice hasn’t returned to normal within 2 weeks or you’re regularly experiencing vocal problems, it’s worth booking an appointment with a GP.

Emmy Broomfield MA is a Voice & Communication Coach for Central for Business, delivering bespoke training opportunities and one-to-one coaching for teams and individuals.

She is also a qualified Vocal Health First Aider.

You can follow Emmy on Instagram @emmybvoicecoach