Free tool · Practice
Vocal Warm-Ups for Speaking on Camera
A seven-minute guided routine to loosen your voice before you record, present or go live. Press start and follow along.
Full routine: 6:15
1. Deep belly breathing
1:00Breathe in through your nose for four counts, hold for four, out through your mouth for six. Hand on your belly: it should move, your shoulders shouldn't.
2. Lip trills
0:45Blow air through loosely closed lips so they flutter like a motorboat. Slide the pitch up and down. It relaxes the lips and connects breath to voice.
3. Humming sirens
0:45Hum on "mmm" and slide from your lowest comfortable note to your highest and back. Feel the buzz in your face.
4. Jaw and face release
0:30Massage your jaw hinge, open wide, then scrunch your face small. Repeat. Tension in the jaw makes speech sound tight.
5. Tongue stretches
0:30Stick your tongue out and down, then up toward your nose, then side to side. Five each way.
6. Articulation: consonants
0:45Say "puh tuh kuh" crisply, getting faster: puh tuh kuh, puh tuh kuh. Then "buh duh guh".
7. Tongue twisters
1:00"Red leather, yellow leather" five times, slowly then faster. Precision first, speed second.
8. Read a line with intent
1:00Pick one line from your script and say it three ways: excited, serious, and like you're telling a friend. Keep the one that sounds most like you.
Warm-ups aren't just for singers. A cold voice sounds flat and tight on a microphone, and tension in your jaw shows on camera. Seven minutes before a shoot makes the first take sound like the tenth.
Read your script hands-free on iPhone, iPad and Mac. The teleprompter follows your voice.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should a vocal warm-up be?
- Five to ten minutes is plenty before recording or speaking.