1. Hydration Treatment: Drink 8–16 ounces of room-temperature water daily. Iced water actually shrinks your muscle tissue, and prevents your vocal cords from vibrating sufficiently.

2. Yawn and Stretch Repetitions: Exercise your facial muscles by giving several giant yawns—and then stretching your face into as many different funny shapes as possible. For example, try to touch your chin with your tongue, or try to get the left side of your lips to touch the inside of the right side of your mouth. (This is particularly fun to do when looking in a mirror!) The value from these exercises is elimination of jaw tension and an increase in vocal mobility.

3. Posture Up! Grab a large book, place it on your head, and walk around the room. Then remove the book and keep that same posture. This aligns all your head, neck, and back muscles—which makes your voice very happy!

1. Dehydrating Liquids—Limit as much as possible the liquids that dehydrate your vocal cords, such as alcohol and caffeine.

2. Noxious environments, such as smoke-filled rooms or noisy situations which require you to speak above your normal tone.

3. Shouting or straining your voice.

1. Drink 8–16 ounces of room temperature water every day

2. When you speak in front of large audiences, always use a microphone (even if you project well)

3. Never prop a telephone receiver between your jaw and your shoulder. It contorts your neck and creates excess vocal tension.

4. Warm up and cool down if you sing or speak in front of groups. For example, using a monotone voice, repeat a vowel sound with a consonant in front of it, such as “see, see, see, nee, nee, nee, hee, hee, hee, ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho.

5. Instead of clearing your throat, substitute a light cough or hard swallow.