Public Speaking Skills For Dummies

Chapter 13

Good Vibrations: Resonance

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding resonance

Using your whole body to project

Opening up all your resonators

Resonance involves how something — in this case, your body — amplifies sound. For people, resonance starts with breathing. The first thing the human body does to produce sound is breathe. Breath is the fuel that creates your sound. Once you take that breath in, you let it out, though there are a few different ways you can do that.

One way has you breathing out soundlessly, and another has you singing a tune. What’s the difference? When you breathe out without sound, the breath passes right by your vocal folds (or larynx) unencumbered. But when you want to say something, or sing something, or make some sort of noise, those vocal folds come together and vibrate.

Getting to Know Your Resonators

Your vocal folds are like a record player’s needle. It’s the origin of the sound. Have you ever put your ear up to a turntable’s needle with the volume all the way down? There’s a tiny, little sound there, for sure, but it needs to be amplified quite a bit before you can really hear it. That amplification comes from the stereo’s amplifier and speakers. ...