Introduction: The Voice of a Tour Guide
Berlin can be quite a wonderful place to work as a tour guide obtains truly fascinating. But most importantly you are a guide to your work and you have your voice to be able to engage your audience and teach them. Still, you ought to take proper care of your voice in a way that will not cause or aggravate strain on the voice, particularly when expected to provide guided tours frequently. In this guide, we will take the opportunity to share some crucial pointers on how you can protect your voice and provide great tours in the lively city of Berlin.
1. Hydration is Key
Of course to maintain your voice you must ensure you take many fluids and this is one of the biggest ways to maintain your voice as a tour guide. The condition can cause dryness, vocal stress, and an especially hoarse voice. It is good to take lots of water before, during and especially after the tours, particularly in cases you will be speaking or it is hot. Drinking water time to time will ensure that your vocal cords are always moist and reduce chances of developing vocal issues.
Pro Tip: Do not take Too Many Stimulants and Drugs
Caffeine is however counterproductive when used highly during the days when you are moving around guiding.
consuming coffee is addictive and may dehydrate your body system as well as test your vocal folds. Likewise, drinking alcohol can cause you to become dehydrated and it also will inflame your vocal cords. This is especially important if you want an energy boost because any drinks that have caffeine in them will make this worse. Instead of cocktails, choose herbal teas and water and any alcoholic beverages should be enjoyed after the tours are over.
2. Warm Up Your Voice
Like any other bodily activity, it is very important to stretch before you engage in a lot of vocalization. To avoid confrontation and to encourage vocal disguise, it is possible to perform voice exercises before using the voice. Before each tour, spend 5 or so minutes reading aloud, humming, doing simple tongue twisters and some gentle vocal warm up. This will make sure your vocal cords are ready for the action it will require when guiding and obviously, it will add value to the type of service you will be providing.
Pro Tip: Lip Trills
From the warm-up exercises, lip trills are especially good for the tour guides. They practice whipping air through their nearly shut lips in order to produce the buzzing sound. Not only are lip trills amazing for warming your vocal cords up in the first place, but it is also helpful in making sure your face muscles are relaxed. Regularly practice lip trills in your warm up so that your vocal cords don’t crack while giving out your tours.
3. Practice Good Posture
One of the essential principles of vocal proper care is the position of your body. If you are in a slumped position or hunch forward it can hinder your diaphragm and thus, you will only have limited breath to push out when singing. Make sure to stand upright with your shoulders relaxed with your chin pulled in and parallel to the floor and your body straight. This positioning provides the best wall on which your diaphragm can open properly thereby aiding your voice and clear enunciation.
Pro Tip: Engage Your Core
Easier breathing, flexibility, tone, posture and control of the voice can be achieved when one has well developed abdominals. You can try having some forms of exercise like plank exercises, yoga, Pilates form of exercise. Having a well toned belly not only adds value to your health but also on the techniques used when delivering a tour as a tour guide.
4. Mind Your Breathing
Breathing techniques are very important concerning vocal strength and sustained singing. Eschew shallow chest breathing and try to undertake diaphragmatic breathing instead. Deep breathing also provides you with enough oxygen thus providing you with a strong voice to use when conducting your tours.
Pro Tip: This is an exercise in Diaphragmatic Breathing.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, lie on your back, and put one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach. Breathe in through your nose and as you exhale, take long gentle breaths and let your tummy go out as your breath fills your lungs. Breathe out slowly through your mouth, while your stomach should point downwards. To cultivate this as a proper practice, perform this exercise daily in preparation for your tours to build diaphragmatic breathing.
5. Perform Vowel Formation
In large group or especially when guiding the group under noisy environments, it is necessary to use appropriate vocal projection to enable everyone hear as informed in the following vocal projection skills. Here are a few techniques to help you project your voice effectively:
Speak from Your Diaphragm
She advised me to stop speaking from my throat instead use the diaphragm as the prime source of vocalization. Here, you have to make use of the muscles in the stomach to exhale air from the lungs in one powerful tone. To narrow down your focus, try to practice speaking from the diaphragm — pretend your words are just a whisper, overemphasize your pronunciation and enunciation, and make sure to direct the sound towards the front.
Pause and Pace
Give your audience essential breaks during your tours so that they can digest the information you have just given them. Pause also offers you a fighting chance to control your breathing as well as avoid straining your vocal cords. In addition, regard the speed at which you’re speaking. Speak calmly, and clearly, and do not speak too fast or too slow and try to pronounce as many words as clearly as possible.
Use Microphone Techniques
Just in case you are working with a microphone, make sure that is well positioned properly too. Make sure you’re holding the microphone in front of your mouth but not too close so that it doesn’t pick up plosive sounds. To familiarize yourself with how the microphone records your presence, use it while warming up to regulate your pitch from the microphone’s sensitivity level.
Conclusion
Continuity is important in delivering your message to the target group as a tour guide. You can eliminate all those by drinking water, warming up your voice, standing or sitting properly, controlling your breathe and using aspects of vocal projection to make sure that your tour group and you have a good experience. Use these hints in performance and let the voice guide you when following the miracles of Berlin with your devoted viewers.
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