How to warm up your voice before you record or read a script on camera

First thing in the day, or after a long silence, your voice tends to sound lower, rougher or flatter, and your mouth is slower to shape words. Reading a script cold often means the first few sentences are the worst ones, and those are the ones viewers hear first.

A short warm-up loosens your breathing, your jaw and your lips, and gets you used to hearing yourself speak at full volume. Most voice coaches suggest keeping it to a few minutes and doing it right before you record, because a warm-up done an hour earlier wears off.

1. 1Posture, 30 seconds. Sit or stand with your feet flat, shoulders down, chin level. Roll your shoulders and gently stretch your neck from side to side. A relaxed neck and chest let the breath move freely.
2. 2Slow breaths, 1 minute. Breathe in through your nose for about four seconds, letting your belly move out, then out through your mouth for six or more. Repeat five or six times. This is the breath you will use to finish long sentences.
3. 3Hum and lip trills, 1 minute. Hum a comfortable note, then slide it up and down. Next blow air through relaxed lips so they flutter (a lip trill, like a motorboat) and glide up and down. Keep it easy; it should never strain.
4. 4Mouth and tongue, 1 minute. Open your jaw wide and relax it a few times, then say a tongue twister slowly and clearly, speeding up only while every consonant stays crisp. “Red leather, yellow leather” and “unique New York” are classics.
5. 5Read aloud, 1 minute. Read the first paragraph of your actual script at full volume, as if the camera were rolling. Notice any word that catches and fix it now.

Sip room-temperature water in the 15 minutes before you start. Very cold drinks can feel harsh on the throat, and caffeine or alcohol can leave your mouth dry. A dry mouth clicks and sticks when you talk.

Avoid clearing your throat hard or whispering to “save” your voice; both are rougher on it than speaking quietly at a normal tone. If you feel pain, stop.

Do the warm-up near the camera so that you can start straight after it. Then:

• Take one slow breath before the first line. The first words set your pace and tone for the rest of the take.
• Treat the first take as a rehearsal. You are already warmer on the second one, so don’t judge the opening of take one.
• Re-do a short mini warm-up, such as a hum, a lip trill and a tongue twister, if you take a long break or switch to a new script.
• Keep the script at a comfortable size and speed so that you are not hurrying. The guides on a monotone voice and on talking too fast cover the rest.

Talkzy for Mac is a slim script bar that hangs from the MacBook’s notch, or sits top-centre on a display without one, and stays on top of other windows. It is on the Mac App Store for macOS 14 or later. You can run your warm-up with the script already open, and the last step, reading the first paragraph aloud, is a good test of your text size and pace.

• Start the script and Talkzy gives a short countdown before the text moves, so you can finish your breath and sit up. The countdown defaults to 3 seconds.
• In Timed mode the text moves at a steady words-per-minute pace you choose (60 to 260), so you can slow it down if you notice your voice is still warming up. Manual mode lets you scroll yourself.
• With voice-follow the scroll follows what Talkzy hears you say, so use your warm-up read-through to check that your mic level is good.

The overlay, timed and manual scrolling and the shortcuts are free. Voice-follow is free for 3 sessions a day, and Pro removes the limit. The iPhone and iPad app is coming soon to the App Store.