DIY Voice Remedies

Last week, I talked a bit about how to take care of your most important asset as a voice over actor – your voice.  Now I’d like to go into that topic a bit deeper and touch on some of the home remedies you should have in your repertoire of voice therapies. There are a number of things you can do to stay healthy, like drink plenty of water, which I mentioned previously, but there are a few other tips worth noting as well.

·         Stay away from dairy, or at least cut back on it.  While this advice might not be well-received by everyone – especially those of you who love pizza and ice cream – it will help your voice.  Dairy products increase mucous in your throat, which can lead to irritation and the urge to clear your throat – not something you want to do a whole lot as a VO actor.

·         Use slippery elm lozenges.  Slippery elm has been used for centuries to soothe the throat, coating it and calming irritation. Lozenges are available at health food stores or online.

·         Change your environment.  Limiting your use of the AC can be tough during hot summer months, but being in an air conditioned environment means the air around you is very dry.  This dry air will also dry out your vocal chords.  Turning off the AC periodically or increasing the temperature can counteract this, or you could consider investing in a humidifier to keep the air in your home or studio moist.

·         Enjoy some hot tea.  Hot tea can soothe tired or sore vocal chords, and licorice and marshmallow-root are especially good for the throat because they contain mucilage.  Just be careful not to add lemon to your tea, as the citrus is drying on your throat.

·         Add gargling to your routine.  Mix warm water with salt and a quarter-teaspoon of baking soda, and gargle in a high pitch.  This will coat and soothe the throat, and the higher pitch is more effective as it forces your vocal chords to contract.

Finally, this may sound a bit strange but to help aid against "dry mouth", eat a few potato chips.
The oils in the chips will coat the inside of your mouth relieving the dryness.