Protect your voice on World Voice Day

Today, April 16^th, is World Voice Day so protect your voice. Learn more here.

World Voice Day is a worldwide annual event that celebrates the wonder of voice. Here in Philadelphia the city is celebrating World Voice Day by lighting up the crown lights a top the PECO building with a flashing display

The aim of The World Voice Day is to demonstrate the importance of the voice in our lives as a communication tool for both semantic and emotional communication, and is therefore relevant to auditory perception, psychology, neurology, cognition, linguistics and phonetics.

Voice comes so naturally to most people, so it’s often taken for granted, but think about the incredible impact the voice has on relationships, business, education, the sciences and the arts.

Educate your Voice is the theme for World Voice Day 2014. Everyone needs to educate themselves about the voice to learn how the voice is produced, how to make it sound better and how to protect your voice. An increase in your voice quality will lead to an increase in your effectiveness as a communicator and how other people view you.

Here are tips from the World Voice Day organization

Embrace hydration – Moisture is good for the voice. Drink plenty of water.
Don’t yell – yelling puts a lot of stress on the vocal cords. If you are speaking to a large crowd, use a microphone.
Warm up your voice – Warming up is not just for singers.
Limit throat clearing – take a swig of water instead.
Don’t smoke – Smoking can cause permanent damage to the vocal cords.
Lower your voice or stop talking when you notice voice strain – you know when enough is enough.
Take a breath – breath flow is the power source for the voice.
Listen to yourself – if you become hoarse rest and it your voice is persistently hoarse see your doctor.