Diaphragmatic Breathing for Speech

To practice diaphragmatic/abdominal breathing, place your hand on your abdomen and inhale. If your hand moves out on the inhalation and back in on the exhalation, your breathing is diaphragmatic. Now stand up, place your hand on the same spot, and take a deep inhalation. Do your shoulders elevate? Does your hand go in when you inhale and return to the neutral position on the exhalation? If so, you are breathing thoracically. This kind of breathing can have a very negative effect on the speaking voice. The tone of the voice is not sustained, and there are problems with projection. But most important, there is a great deal of tension in the neck and shoulders that tends to “spill over” into the larynx, creating excessive vocal tension.

Keep in mind that diaphragmatic breathing is natural breathing. However, this does not mean that a speaker automatically uses it. As with speech, one must habituate oneself to diaphragmatic breathing. Because diaphragmatic breathing has a positive effect on amplification, relaxation, and pitch, it is vital to develop good respiration.

You should do the diaphragmatic exercises listed below every day if you want to improve your voice production. Set aside the same time each day. When you first awake and just before you retire are often practical times. Because some of the exercises do not involve vocal production, they can also be done while you walk to class or work.

Exercises for Diaphragmatic Breathing and Control

1. Stand up. Place the palm of your hand on your abdomen, stick out your tongue, and pant like a dog. (Remember that your classmates feel just as ridiculous as you do!) Feel the diaphragmatic action. When you inhale, the abdominal wall moves out; when you exhale, it returns to the relaxed position. This exercise gives you a good sense of the action of the diaphragm.

2. At home, lie down on your back on your plush Oriental carpet (regular carpets work almost as well!) and place a book on your abdomen. When you inhale slowly through the mouth, make certain that the book is elevated slowly and evenly. When you exhale slowly through the mouth, the book should return smoothly to its former position. Do not allow the book to move jerkily. It should return to the neutral position at the same pace as it rose during inhalation.

3. Sit in a straight-back chair without arms. Hold the back legs of the chair so that your shoulder cannot be elevated. Breathing through the mouth, take a breath slowly to a silent count of five, hold your breath to a silent count of five, and exhale to a silent count of five. Choose your own rhythm of counting but keep it consistent. Tension should be on the abdominal region, not on the throat or neck.

4. Stand up and repeat the five count as in exercise 3. Then count to six, seven, eight, and so on. Make certain that you keep the tension in the abdominal region. Also, be sure that you are inhaling, holding your breath, or exhaling all of the time that your teacher is counting. It is the tension followed by the relaxation that strengthens the diaphragm. Abdominal tension should also be maintained during the “hold” portion of the exercise. Your hand should move outward and inward slowly and evenly during respiration. You might want to alter the rhythm of the counting by increasing the time between each digit in the count.