Improve your voice quality

Key points

• Try to maintain an upright posture when speaking.
• Stretch your neck and lower your shoulders to ease tension in the muscles so your voice isn’t strained.
• Breathing from your stomach instead of your chest will help.

Introduction

You’re going to experience some changes to your voice after surgery – but there are ways to improve how you sound. Let us show you how.

Adapting to vocal changes

Speaking with a voice prosthesis will be different from how you used to speak with vocal cords. You should work with your clinician to help achieve a good voice. There are also things you can do yourself at home to practise your voice.

Body and head positioning

You will need to train yourself to have a neutral body and head posture when you speak. For most of us this will be upright, but you may find another position that works better. It’s all a matter of personal preference.

Try to keep your neck and shoulders relaxed, because tension in these muscles can make it more difficult to speak. Every so often you should move your shoulders up towards your ears, and then slowly back down. Alternatively, stretch your neck, as if a string is pulling at the top of your head. This will help to make breathing and speaking easier.

Breathing support

Breathing from your stomach offers some of the best support. It allows more air to move in and out of your lungs, to make talking easier, and the voice sound more natural and relaxed. This means you’ll start to use your diaphragm (underneath your lungs) instead of your chest to breathe. Here is how to practise:

• Hold one hand on your stomach and the other hand on your chest.
• Breathe in and try to push the hand on your stomach out without moving the hand on your chest.
• Breathe out and empty all the air in your stomach.
• Repeat until it feels natural.

Blocking your stoma

It is equally important to practise how to block (or ‘occlude’) your stoma.

The pressure you apply to the lid of your Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) should be firm enough to make sure no air can escape. Otherwise it can make a distracting noise and your speech won’t be as efficient. At the same time, the pressure you apply shouldn’t be too forceful as it could irritate your stoma or make speaking more difficult. You will soon figure out the balance that works for you – give it a go.

Think about what you say and how you say it

The shorter your sentences are and more natural pauses you have, the clearer your speech is going to be after a laryngectomy. This may take some getting used to, but you will eventually find that speaking will be easier for you.

The art of articulation

How easy you are to understand is determined by more than just your voice. The volume and quality of your voice are factors, but the way you articulate also makes a big difference. The more precise you are able to pronounce words, the more likely others will be able to follow what you’re saying.

Think “less is more” when it comes to improving your articulation. This means less complicated sentences at a lower volume which requires less effort. Your Speech and Language Therapist will have lots of exercises to help you get used to this along the way.