How to Project Your Voice: The 1 to 10 Volume Practice I Teach My Clients
If people keep asking you to repeat yourself, learning how to project your voice is the fastest fix I know. In almost every session I lead, attendees share the same feedback they’ve gotten about their voices: “You’re so soft-spoken.” “I couldn’t hear you.” And sometimes the opposite: “You come across as aggressive.”
Here's what I want you to know first. You can amplify what you're saying with more than volume. Projection is also how clearly you say each word, how you pace your message, and when you choose to get quiet on purpose. Below, I'll walk you through how I help clients find their base volume, warm up their voice, practice a range with one silly tongue twister, and use strategic quiet so the most important part of their message lands.
What does it mean to project your voice?
Projecting your voice means your message reaches every corner of the room, whether that room is a big auditorium or a Zoom screen. Vocal projection combines volume, clear enunciation, and pacing, so it's about more than speaking with power. The goal is that people hear you and understand you the first time.
This matters most when you're speaking up for yourself or others. I once led a session full of translators and interpreters, people whose whole job is speaking on behalf of communities. For them, a clear, strong voice is part of how they advocate for others. The same goes for anyone leading a team, pitching an idea, or representing their work in a meeting.
Feedback on your voice is also very much about perception. In one session, an attendee shared that someone first told her she was shy and quiet. Later, when she started showing her true potential, she was told she was "too aggressive and pushy." Same person, two opposite labels. Being assertive is a strength at work. Being called aggressive can feel like unfair feedback, and it often says more about the listener's expectations than about you.
Another thing I hear from clients is that they've never gotten real feedback on their speaking. They have a sense they could improve, but they don't know where, or which changes would help their role or business. That's where a simple number comes in.
How loud is your voice right now? Rate it from 1 to 10
Rate your base speaking volume from 1 to 10, where 1 is the quietest and 10 is the loudest. Many people speak softer than they think. Knowing your number tells you what to practice: going up a few levels for big rooms, or bringing it down for moments that need quiet.
When I ask a group to do this, I get answers all over the place. Some people say they're a 3 or 4 at work and a 6 or 7 with friends. Some say they're an 8 or 9 most of the time. Clients have told me, "I think my base volume is a 3, and I'd love to get it to a 6." That's a clear, doable goal.
My own number changes with the room. In a large auditorium, I'm at about a 9, because I know my voice has to reach every corner, especially if there's no microphone provided! In a small meeting with four or five people, I'm closer to a 5. Neither one is right or wrong. Each fits its setting.
If you're not sure what your number is, ask someone. If you have a good relationship with your supervisor or a colleague, ask them after your next presentation: "Do you think I should project more? Would that help me get my message across?" A trusted outside ear can tell you things they couldn't hear from your point of view.
Not sure what number you are? See how my public speaking coaching works here.
How do I warm up my voice before speaking?
Warm up your voice the way singers do. Drink warm water or tea, skip creamy drinks right before you speak, and follow a short 2 to 5 minute vocal warm-up video. Then loosen your mouth and jaw with a tongue twister so your words come out clearly from the first sentence.
Think about the last concert you went to. Before the show, someone walks up to the mic and says, "One, two, three." That test is partly for the sound system, and it's also a chance to warm up the voice, because your voice is a tool too. We test our webcam, our microphone, and our Wi-Fi three to five times before an interview. Your voice deserves the same prep.
A few tips I learned from someone who sang in choirs most of her life: warm water or warm tea before you speak is a good idea. I'd be careful with coffee if you add milk or cream, because anything creamy coats your throat and makes it harder to enunciate and use your full voice. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders offers similar advice in its tips for caring for your voice: drink plenty of water, balance caffeine or alcohol with extra water, and rest your voice when you can.
When I'm getting ready to speak, I look up a vocal warm-up on YouTube. Sometimes it's one meant for singers, and sometimes it's a quick 2 to 5 minute routine for warming up your voice for the day. Either works. The point is to wake your voice up before you need it.
Warming up for a big interview? Check out my job interview coaching here.
The tongue twister I use to practice projection
Actors, singers, and people learning English all use tongue twisters, and for good reason. They open your jaw, get your tongue moving, and get the blood flowing to your brain because some of them are so wild and fun! I've used them to practice projecting my voice for years.
This is one of my favorites, an old actor's warm-up:
All I want is a proper cup of coffee made in a proper copper coffee pot. Believe it or not, I want a cup of coffee from a proper copper pot. Tin or iron coffee pots are no good for me. If I can't have a proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot, I'll just have tea.
The first time I did it live with a group, I didn't nail it 100 percent. I'll still give myself credit for trying, and you should too. Here are the two ways I practice it.
Drill 1: Slow enunciation
Say the tongue twister slowly, giving every syllable its own space: "All I want is a proper cup of coffee... made in a proper copper coffee pot." One attendee shared that her choir director had them sing every syllable of a song slowly, and that it helped her enunciate when she spoke, too. Another was told that to enunciate well, you have to show your teeth. Both are right. It feels silly, and that's fine. Once you can say it clearly at a slow pace, speeding up gets much easier, especially on those tricky C and P sounds.
Drill 2: Practice your range
Now use your number. If you're usually a 6, say the tongue twister at a 9 to feel what pushing the boundary is like. If you're usually an 8 or 9, try it at a 3. Then go back and forth: a 2, then an 8. If the coffee pot gets old, you can use a page from a favorite book instead.
Make it a game if you want. Many of the people I work with have kids, nieces, nephews, or cousins around. Challenge them to see who can say it the fastest or the clearest. You get practice and a good laugh with people you love.
Why speaking softer can make your message stronger
One of the best ways to amplify your message is, ironically, strategic silence and strategic quiet. If someone has been speaking at an 8 or 9 throughout a whole presentation, and then they drop to a 3 right at the heart of their message, everyone leans in. That quieter moment can carry the emotion or the seriousness of what's being said.
That's why the goal of all this practice is range. You want to know what you sound like at a 2 and at a 9, so you can choose based on the room. A large in-person event might need an 8, 9, or even 10. A tense one-on-one conversation might need a 4. For more on mixing your pace and volume, if gestures and body language are part of your nerves too, check out my session on communicating through effective gestures.
If there's a microphone, use it, even if you think your voice is loud enough. Using the mic is an accessibility practice for people who are hard of hearing, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) also suggests using a microphone when you’re speaking to a group. And please don't strain. Pushing to an 8 or 9 should never mean yelling or screaming to the point where it hurts.
How do I stop saying um when I pause?
To stop saying um, slow down and stretch your pauses on purpose until silence feels normal. Filler words like um and uh usually show up in pauses we feel uncomfortable with. Recording yourself and noticing every um builds awareness, and longer, steadier pauses give your listeners time to take in your point.
An attendee once asked me this during Q&A, and I loved that she already knew her ums showed up in her pauses. Many people have no idea they use filler words every two or three words. That awareness is the first step.
What I suggested was a recorded practice. Speak a bit slower than normal, then play it back and point out every um and uh. Next, lengthen your pauses for a while so you get used to the silence. Once silence feels normal, you can bring your pauses back to a comfortable length without the filler words sneaking in.
There's another layer I see often. Many women and non-binary people fill silence with an um because we're used to being interrupted. That depends a lot on your environment, but it's real. When you build steady pauses into your speech, people get used to your style, and you're less likely to be cut off mid-thought.
Want someone to listen for your filler words with you? Book a free consult here.
How do I practice vocal projection at home?
Practice vocal projection at home by reading a tongue twister or a page of a book out loud at different volumes, recording yourself, and listening back. Recording helps you hear your true volume and enunciation, and it also helps if being on camera makes you nervous, since you get used to seeing yourself speak.
If you're thinking, "I'm too shy for this" or "I'm too introverted to speak up," I want to share a quote I come back to often: don't let your current situation dictate your future. Coaching works the same way whether it's basketball, tennis, or public speaking. It's a path from where you started to where you are after you put in the time.
And I'm not a perfect speaker either. I still catch myself stumbling over a word or using a filler word. What matters is that I keep learning and growing as I go.
So here's a question I like to ask: if you felt completely comfortable projecting your voice, what would you say? Maybe it's the idea you keep holding back in meetings, or the speaking invitation you turned down out of fear. Write it down. That's what you're practicing for. If gestures and body language are part of your nerves too, my post on hand gestures while speaking pairs well with this one [ADD LINK: hand gestures post].
Watch My Full Session on Vocal Projection
A lot of this post comes from a session I led for the Latina Professionals community called Amplify Your Message: The Art of Vocal Projection. We practiced the coffee pot tongue twister together, rated our volume from 1 to 10, and answered a great question about filler words. Watch the full vocal projection session on YouTube.
About the Author & Public Speaking Coach
Sammie Walker Herrera is a public speaking and confidence coach, a certified ADHD coach, and the founder of Speak Y'all. She helps executive-level leaders and professionals build long-term confidence through committed speaking practice, expert feedback, and accountability, including learning how to project their voice so their message reaches the whole room. Originally from McAllen, Texas, and based in Pittsburgh, she holds a BA in Psychology and Hispanic Studies from Carnegie Mellon University and an MA in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Slippery Rock University.
Sammie isn't a perfect speaker, and she says so. She still catches herself stumbling or using filler words, and that's exactly why she teaches growth over perfection. She wants her clients to feel the same progress she did once she put real time into her own speaking. Learn more about her public speaking coaching, job interview coaching, and 25 Days to Confident Speaking program.
FAQs: How to Project Your Voice
Here are the questions I hear most about vocal projection.
How do I project my voice without yelling?
Warm up first, then raise your volume a couple of levels on the 1 to 10 scale instead of jumping to a 10. Focus on clear enunciation, since crisp words carry farther than loud, muffled ones. If it starts to hurt or strain your throat or jaw, you've gone too far, so ease back and use a microphone when you can.
Why do people say I'm soft-spoken?
Many people speak softer than they think, especially when they're nervous or used to being interrupted. Rate your base volume from 1 to 10 and ask a trusted colleague where they'd put you. Then practice one or two levels higher until it feels normal.
Should I use a microphone if my voice is loud enough?
Yes. Using the microphone is an accessibility practice for people who are hard of hearing, and it saves you from straining your voice in a big room. Test it ahead of time so you know how it sounds.
Your Voice Deserves to Reach the Back of the Room
Don't let your current situation dictate your future. If you've been soft-spoken your whole career, that's where you are today, not where you have to stay.
Start small. Find your number from 1 to 10 today, then say the coffee pot tongue twister one level louder than feels comfortable. Tomorrow, try it one level softer. That's how range gets built, one silly practice at a time.
Comments