Orofacial Myology Exercises for Voice Disorders

Q:  Is there any orofacial exercise that I can use to help me with my problem.  I don’t have much volume to my voice and someone said it might be related to something about my tongue.  I looked that up online and it pointed me in your direction.  Please tell me if there are exercises I can use to help?  SV

A:    Hello and thank you for your very interesting question.  Voice differences usually fall under the auspices of a speech pathologist specializing in voice disorders.  Since you contacted me, I will tell you how an orofacial myological disorder can sometimes affect volume as well as nasality.  When someone habitually maintains a low forward position of the tongue, it can alter the timbre, pitch or volume since the oral cavity is not in the ideal shape for speech production.  Here is something you can try that we demonstrate in our courses.  Place your tongue down in the mouth and forward slightly touching the lower lip.  Keep your mouth slightly open.  (This is a common position for many “myo” clients).  Now, maintaining that position, say  “I know somebody is coming here very soon.”  If you do that, you should hear a more nasal sounding voice than usual and a need to overuse the chest area to “push” air out to be heard.  Compare that with the desirable lingual/tongue position of tongue up behind the upper central teeth, starting with the lip closed and then speaking the same sentence.  It should be louder and easier to obtain clarity and volume.  Keep in touch with any additional questions.