In short: Projection is about support and direction. Breathe low, keep your chin level, and aim your voice at the back wall rather than the front row. Aim for about a tenth more than your conversational volume, and slow down a touch. If your throat aches or your voice thins, you are pushing from the throat. Stop, breathe and reset.
Projection is what lets a speaker be heard at the back of a room without straining. It is not volume for its own sake. Shouting closes the throat, sounds harsh and tires the voice quickly. Projection uses breath and aim.
Warm up before you speak
Give yourself a few minutes before the talk. Hum at a comfortable pitch, then slide up and down. Do some lip trills. Say a few tongue twisters slowly, then faster. Keep a glass of room-temperature water nearby, and avoid fizzy drinks. It costs nothing and it works.
Stand and breathe
Stand with your feet a little apart and your weight even. Let your shoulders drop. Breathe in low, so the stomach moves before the chest does, and let the breath go out on the words rather than before them. Most projection problems start with a breath taken too high and too late.
Aim the voice
This is the part people miss. Pick a point on the back wall, or the last seat in the back row, and speak towards it. Keep your chin level. Dropping your head towards your notes pinches the throat and sends the voice into the floor. Looking up slightly often helps.
Find your extra tenth
To calibrate, say one sentence in ordinary conversation to a friend across a table. Then say the same sentence to someone across the room at a level that feels only slightly bigger. Ask them to say when they lose a word. Repeat until the difference feels small to you and clear to them.
A short worked example
Read this line aloud in an ordinary voice: "The cove is ready and the crew can start at nine." Now read it again with a breath low in the body, your eyes on the back wall and the final word carried. The words and the meaning are the same, and the sentence reaches further without extra force.
Common mistakes
- Pushing harder when you should be breathing better.
- Dropping the ends of sentences. The last word is the one that disappears first, so finish each sentence with the same support as the start.
- Speaking fast to fill the room. Slow down, and the words will carry.
- Shouting into a microphone. A microphone works best at a steady distance, so speak at a normal level and let it do the job.
If your voice goes after a long day, plan breaks and shorten the talk rather than pushing harder. For the wider delivery, see vocal variety: the rollercoaster and cutting fillers. To practise on camera, see what happens in a media training day.
Related guides
- Pace: why you are still too fast when you speak
- The power of the pause in speaking and presenting
- Vocal variety: the rollercoaster
- Cutting fillers: um, ah, like
- Smiling voice
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
How do I project my voice without shouting?
Breathe from the lower body, keep your head level, and aim your voice at the back of the room. Increase volume only slightly, and let the breath do the work rather than the throat.
How much louder should I speak when presenting?
About a tenth more than you would in conversation, and a little slower. Test it by speaking to a friend across the room and asking whether they heard every word.
Why does my voice go hoarse after a talk?
Usually because you are pushing from the throat rather than supporting the voice with breath. Warm up before you speak, drink water at room temperature, and stop when you feel strain.
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