Author: Kendra Wormald, Reg. CASLPO Speech Language Pathologist
Date: Wednesday, February 05, 2025

How Does the Voice Work?

There are several systems and phenomena occurring for speech to be produced:

Lungs:
- If you’ve worked with me or another SLP, you likely know how vital the breath is in supporting voice. Without breath, there is no voice, or at least not an effective healthy voice. However don’t be mistaken, the diaphragm plays a key role in effective breath use at rest and during speech, paired with coordination of the abdominal muscles, chest muscles and rib cage . The breath of course, comes from the lungs. When you exhale, breath comes up from your lungs, through your windpipe (trachea).

Vocal Folds:
- Vocal folds are made up of 3 layers: vocal ligament, vocalis muscle and a mucous membrane. These folds are elastic in nature which helps them do their job.
  The trachea, more specifically the larynx (voice box) is where the vocal folds are housed. Aerodynamics play a key role in the movement of the vocal folds. Air pressure builds up below the larynx until it forces the vocal folds apart and sets them into motion. This vibration leads to sound waves being produced.
  The term vocal folds used to be universally called ‘ vocal cords’. More recently ‘cords’ has become reserved for singers who use their voice as an instrument.

Resonance and Pitch:
- The voice is “shaped” by your vocal tract as it reaches your mouth and nose. The orientation of your tongue, teeth, lips and shape of your throat will change how the sound ‘bounces’ or ‘resonantes’. This results in the voice taking on different characteristics, as it produces sounds called speech.
  Pitch is controlled by the stretching and relaxation of the vocal folds. When stretched tight, they vibrate faster which creates a high pitch, when looser they vibrate slower resulting in a lower pitch.

(The Voice Foundation, 2024)

110 cycles per second or Hz = lower pitch
180 to 220 cycles per second = medium pitch
300 cycles per second = higher pitch
higher voice: increase in frequency of vocal fold vibration
louder voice: increase in amplitude of vocal fold vibration

Am I Harming My Voice?

Vocal Hygiene: There are likely automatic behaviours you do that are negatively impacting your voice. This may include:

Speaking over background noise
Speaking too long
Posture: Are you hunched over making it harder to optimize on breath
Smoking
Consuming products that dry you out such as drinking alcohol and caffeine
Not resting your voice when sick with laryngitis or upper respiratory illness
Harsh Crying

Here are some examples of how a negative vocal habit can be replaced:

(UMMC Health Care, 2025)

Glottal/Vocal Fry

Vocal fry occurs when your vocal folds vibrate slowly and produce a very low, creaky sound. Compared to typical voicing, here the vocal folds are shortened and brought together then “popped’ back open. This action leads to a frying or sizzling sound, hence the name.

To be clear, vocal fry isn’t harmful to your vocal folds or throat, but it could impact the impression you make. Current research supports differing perceptions of this vocal quality. Some see it as trendy and unique while others perceive it as unprofessional, and reduced trustworthiness and competence, particularly among young women.

It’s important to consider your audience when using any kind of vocal quality. Vocal fry may be more appropriate for social, relaxed settings compared to professional. It all depends on the kind of impact your want to make

Vocal fry only at the ends of your sentence may signify that you’re running out of breath when speaking. We never want to speak to the end of our breath but rather feel we have a bit left. With reduced breath support, the vocal folds will often vibrate slower, resulting in a lower gravely voice.

Possible Signs of a Voice Problem

You may notice your voice quality change when you’re sick, after attending and singing along to a concert but often these changes are not concerning. There are however instances where the voice characteristics may occur more consistently and severely. You may be experiencing a voice problem if you often experience:

(Maryland, 2025)

Losing your voice by the end of the day
Inconsistent vocal quality across the day
Hoarse, strained, raspy or quivering voice
Too low or too high pitch
Whispery breathy voice
Frequency laryngitis
Strained or strangled vocal quality
Abnormal volume use
Weak voice
Increased effort with speaking
Excessive muscle tension or discomfort around the throat, chest, shoulders or neck that may worsen when speaking
Feeling chronically fatigued when speaking
Feeling out of breath when speaking
Need to clear throat excessively
Feeling of a lump in the throat

If you resonate with several of the above, it may be beneficial to seek guidance from a Speech-Language Pathologist, ENT and/or your MD

Confidence and Credibility Through Voicing

What’s great about the voice is that it can be altered and changed in various ways. Your voice can be an avenue to express your intentions, a range of emotions, meanings and experiences.

Vocal Exercises: Similar to any other muscle in your body, the voice will benefit from warm-up and practice. Before a day filled with speaking or your next big presentation, try out some of the following:

Tongue Twisters and saying “PaTaKa” said at different rates
Pitch glides: Shift throughout your comfortable pitch range from high to low, low to high, and variations of these.
Sirens: Say “wee-woo” at the same pitch, then change the pitch for wee and woo (one high one low)
Yawn - sigh: Yawn then let out a long sigh on the exhale

Breath: This is THE foundational skill of communication, especially in consideration of your voice. Without effective quality and quantity of breath in speech you are more likely to speak faster, enunciate less, reduce volume at the end of sentences, reduce emphasis and intonation, may experience tension in the chest or throat and may feel increased emotions of nervousness, panic and anxiety. As discussed earlier, the diaphragm is the main breathing muscle. Reflect on how you breath in speech, does it look like:

Inhaling through your mouth

Expanding your abdomen (specifically the diaphragm) as you inhale followed by minor movement of the lungs, chest and shoulders
Exhaling as you speak
Taking a fresh inhale around every 8-10 words

Prosody: Patterns of stress and intonation

Optimize on the use of emphasis to engage your listening more. Increasing your pitch up then down as you stretch out your emphasized word. Shift the emphasis to a different word in the sentence. You will notice that although these are the exact same words, the message and intention of the sentence changes, depending on where the emphasis is.

I want a new car
I want a new car
I want a new car
I want a new car

Intonation across your sentence can be used to express emotion. It is imperative that your tone and intonation supports what you say rather than contrasts it as this will confuse the listener. For example, if you said “ I didn’t get the job” with a happy upbeat tone, you’d be expressing to your conversation partner that it’s a great thing that you didn’t get the job.

Conclusion

If the information and challenges in this article resonate with you, voice therapy may be your next step. See a Speech Therapist at Well Said to begin your journey in learning how to use your voice as a tool to excel in life, rather than it being a hindrance.

References

Maryland ENT (2025). What are the symptoms of having voice problems? https://www.marylandent.com/what-are-the-symptoms-of-having-voice-problems/
The Voice Foundation (2024). Anatomy and physiology of voice production. https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/understanding-voice-production/#:~:text=Vocal%20folds%20vibrate%20when%20excited,which%20controls%20the%20close%20phase.
UMMC Health Care (2025). Vocal hygiene tips. https://umc.edu/Healthcare/ENT/Patient-Handouts/Adult/Speech-Language-Pathology/Voice/Vocal-Hygiene.html

To speak with a psychotherapist or one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.

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