​An energetic voice tops any dreary monotone delivery. In your preparation phase of speaking with expressive communication it’s vital to have vocal projection, focus of mind, and variety of tone. Supporting your speech with more breath and your mind with more energetic images will excite your listeners to your content. 

The Diaphragmatic Breathing process is the link to flex your energy levels as you weave through your presentation with points of passion connecting with your audience in a believable way.
First, follow through with diaphragmatic breathing exercises to project your vocal sound without shouting or further harming of your voice. By increasing your breath amount and directing it out to the farthest point of your listeners, you will be heard by all. It’s your diaphragmatic muscle that becomes your engine to amplify and to take the strain away from your throat.
Try this Call-your-Dog Exercise: Say, “Spike, come here!” as if he’s only a short distance from you.
Next, repeat “Spike, come here!” but this time Spike is outside, and you want him to come to you at the door. You need to take a bigger breath and aim your sound farther away.
However, Spike has run across the street so now you must take in more breath and manage to send your supporting air farther across the street. It’s your diaphragm not your throat to finally get him to come home. With practice, this technique becomes your automatic habit to projecting your voice.

Second, take control of your mind. Breathing with the diaphragm relaxes you more fully and signals your brain to pause and take control. As a strategy replace a negative thought with a positive one. Reinforce your thoughts with images of excitement, fun, or adventure. It’s like winning a huge lottery or getting that new promotion you wanted. Create a code word for yourself to trigger your mind to push your energy button on. Then energize your voice to match your mind and your body as you speak with vitality. Find the right balance of energy to produce your passion when needed.

You diaphragmatic breathing link will help clear your mind, relieve your tension, and allow for more energy to flow through your body and achieve a dynamic-sounding voice.
Replace your tired sound with an energetic one throughout your week as you speak to everyone.

For more exercises and benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing process take a look at Chapter Three on Energize to Express in “Breathing…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches” by Speech Coach, Brenda C. Smith. She has written an easy-to-follow book with targeted exercises from beginners to advanced levels including stories of successful participants.
Brenda leads you through how to breath with the diaphragm and project your voice in Chapter 1; and how to manage breathing to relax, and to achieve mind focus in Chapter 2; with how to energize your voice in Chapter 3 as a preparation technique to keeping expressive energy at the ready. 
Have you read the previous Blog Series on How Diaphragmatic Breathing Is Linked to Your Voice?

Anxiety is a troubling feeling that most of us have experienced. One of the go-to-remedies is to take a few deep breaths so you can calm yourself and lessen your fear.  Speaking is among the worst fears that people have. The link to your voice with fear and nervousness causes you to feel and sound not at your best.  Breathing is a great tool to use. 

However, did you know that shallow breathing in your upper chest area in which your shoulders rise quickly with each new breath, increases your anxiety and leads into a panic attack? Diaphragmatic breathing, on the other hand, allows for you to have more control to manage your nerves before and during your speaking activities.

The link to your voice through Diaphragmatic Breathing releases tension in your body muscles and your mind so you will not look or sound nervous but speak with confidence. If your body has tense muscles the pitch level of your voice goes higher and you have less volume to project your voice to be heard easily. Relaxed body muscles will slow and calm the breathing process together with relieving stress from your mind.

The benefits of diaphragmatic breathing will help you to keep a mental focus to balance relaxation and breathing to manage the flow of your speech. You will have a fuller and lower tone quality. Your voice mirrors your stress level. Make relaxation as your key priority and diaphragmatic breathing as your best strategy.
Try this easy warm-up to give yourself a head start to empower your speech with body, mind, and voice relaxation:

• Stand and Stretch your arms, legs, and torso in all directions to release any tight muscles. Shake your entire body.
• Stand relaxed and loose, and give out a huge sigh and then a huge yawn
• Slowly take three deep diaphragmatic breaths
• Close your eyes and imagine a quiet place in your mind as you calmly breathe and relax
• Smile and breathe slowly 

Now go ahead and speak confidently throughout your day!
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For more exercises and benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing process take a look at Chapter Two on Relaxation in “Breathing…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches” by Speech Coach, Brenda C. Smith.
Brenda leads you through taking the tension out of your muscles, visualizing your calming place, breathing with the diaphragm, and having a secret cue to avoid panic attacks and control your nerves. She has written an easy-to-follow book with targeted exercises from beginners to advanced levels including stories of successful participants.
Have you read the previous Blog Series on How Diaphragmatic Breathing Is Linked to Your Voice?

The Diaphragmatic Breathing process helps you relax, focus, boost your energy, improve your speech tone and clarity. This breathing method is applied when you inhale a breath while your diaphragmatic muscle expands your lower ribs and stomach area. Then as you exhale your breath passes through the vocal folds to allow for vibration for your speech. The diaphragm returns to its former position on exhalation until you take your next breath. Obviously, you will automatically continue breathing on your next inhalation with the same cyclical process in order to stay alive.

The benefit of this process is that you will get more air space to manage than if you used only your upper shoulder neck area to breath with. The link to your voice is that you will have enough air to speak without being short of breath whether you are a professional speaker or just getting through your normal daily life.
The ability to control the amount of air you might need so you have enough air at the end of your sentence is a bonus to allow for more expression of tone to make your story or message be heard and felt by your listeners.

You can retrain your breathing style to diaphragmatic breathing with a simple exercise of practising to breathe in for four seconds, hold it for three seconds, then exhale for four seconds. Place your hands on your stomach or your sides to feel the expansion in your lower ribs as you inhale. Each day increase the amount of time your exhale your breath eventually getting comfortable to a count of ten or more.

Diaphragmatic breathing has the power to fully relax your body, mind, and the sound of your voice. This becomes a valuable tool to avoid panic attacks or feel nervous; it sets up your mind to focus more clearly; and it links to your voice becoming more flexible in expressing your ideas with a variety of tone.

If you want your voice to be energetic, vibrant and clear, consider adapting to the diaphragmatic breathing method as your core base in preparation to speaking with presence. This is your default backup system to discovering your best voice.
For more exercises and benefits of diaphragmatic breathing process take a look at Chapter one in ​“Breathing…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches” by speech coach, Brenda C. Smith. She has written an easy-to-follow book with targeted exercises from beginners to advanced levels including stories of successful participants.  

This blog is the first one in her series of seven steps outlining how you can go from preparation to creating presence and engaging performance. The entire series shows what is already available within you to speak with comfortable with confidence. If you found this information helpful, then please continue to read this series of more benefits that link to diaphragmatic breathing.