Question:
I am a public speaker. My voice is nasally and high pitched. What can I do to change it?
Answer:
Nasality often results from the back of the tongue being raised excessively high. If you plug your nose and sound an “ah” vowel sound while yawning or feigning surprise, this should separate the back of the tongue and soft palate and you will be able to tell when the sound is no longer nasal. You can do this with all of the vowel sounds — “oh” and “ooh” might be easiest to get rid of nasality while it can be harder with “ee” or “ay” sounds as the back of the tongue actually needs to be a little higher to form these sounds. Lowering the pitch of your voice is a more complicated issue and I recommend you work with a voice specialist to be certain you don’t stress the voice. Perhaps once the nasality is gone, you will find you have more access to resonance in the chest, and with the fuller sound your voice won’t sound too high. You can also read other pages for additional tips.