There’s a school of thought that says you should be able to use your voice indefinitely. If actors and singers can perform for many days on end, surely we dog trainers can teach all our classes in one evening—multiple nights in a row—without losing our voices, right? 

Here are 10 tips I’ve learned over the years as an expert in communication and public speaking to help keep your voice strong and resilient:

1. Sing Two Songs in the Car—Hum One, Sing the Other
It’s important to warm up. And yes, there are a ton of wonderful vocal warm ups on the internet, but if there’s one that I find easiest to incorporate into my day, it’s listening to music in the car and humming along.  Take two songs.  The first, you’ll hum - if you’re not afraid of looking silly, squish your lips together in a fish face and attempt to hum at the edge of your lips. Second song - think of belting at 50% of your actual shower performance loudness and enthusiasm.

2. Stretch Your Mouth and Tongue
Just like standing and stretching our bodies feels good after a few hours of sitting in front of a computer, stretching the tools of your voice can help warm them up and prepare them for the  plentiful talking ahead. Stick your tongue out as far as you possibly can, try to touch your nose, try to touch your chin, and reach to touch each cheek.  Also yawn - yawn as wide as you can a couple times.

3. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate—Yesterday Matters
We all know hydration is important. And it’s especially so for your voice. The difficulty is making sure that we  hydrate the day before for today. There is a lot we should consider to reinforce our behavior of drinking more water, but my vote: buy the cute water bottle

4. Mind Your Posture—Don’t Tilt Your Chin 
Often, in an attempt to be louder, or to send your voice further away, we have a common habit of tilting our chin towards the ceiling. If you look up, you’re stretching your vocal chords, if you tuck your chin to your chest, you’re compressing your vocal chords. For optimal vocal chord function, keep your chin parallel to the ground.

5. Avoid: Chocolate, Pop, Anything Too Sweet, or Too Sour
Often, in an attempt to be louder, or to send your voice further away, we have a common habit of tilting our chin towards the ceiling. If you look up, you’re stretching your vocal chords, if you tuck your chin to your chest, you’re compressing your vocal chords. For optimal vocal chord function, keep your chin parallel to the ground.

6. Special Treatments After Teaching
See above’s nothing sour or sweet right before vocal use. But, you’ll often find sweet/sour things that can help your throat recover after it’s done its job. Honey lemon in warm/hot water, or tea with licorice root (are some common ones).

7. Green Apples to Reduce Salivation
This one I learned while I took voice actor training. It’s common for voice actors to show up to auditions and jobs with a green apple in their bag. In case their salivary glands are not cooperating and there is way too much hydration going on in their mouth, a sour green apple can help you reduce that ‘wet’ sound. Also an apple is a lot easier to carry around than lemon juice.  And tastier on your tongue.

8. Breathe Into Your Belly, Not Your Shoulders
Breath is crucial. All sound is made from your breath. With vocal chord activation or not, if you don’t have air, you can’t speak. When you breathe, your shoulders should not move. If we take a quick peek at the mechanics, our diaphragm pushes down, drawing air into your lungs. Your belly - the squishiest, most flexible part, should expand. And relaxing the diaphragm is how we exhale.  Place your hand on your belly button while you breathe in - can you feel your hand move? Now check a mirror - do your shoulders move? Try to move your hand, but not your shoulders.

9. Think Before You Speak
We rush. A lot. Human ambition is strong, even if it’s just to get all the words out. Take a moment to think something through before delivering your next set of instructions in class. Your students will be more grateful for a thoughtful sentence than a torrent of rushed words that don’t make sense.

10. Wear a Scarf
I do live in Canada, so I might be particularly biased based on weather. However, there isn’t much protecting your neck, so if it’s cold in the room, there’s little to insulate your throat and vocal chords. Wearing a scarf can protect from vocal strain and muscles freezing up just like how we keep our bodies warm.