There are many reasons why people may decide to pretend they have lost their voices; for example to play a role in a play or film, or to make an illness seem more serious than it actually is. Trying to actually lose your voice can cause damage to the vocal cords, so doing so is not recommended. The next time you need to pretend you are losing your voice, try emulating the symptoms of laryngitis; this condition causes swelling of the vocal cords and is a common cause of voice loss. It can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection, by too intense or frequent use of the voice and by smoking. Symptoms of laryngitis include the inability to speak or speak at normal volume, hoarseness, hoarse voice, and wheezing during oral communication.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Editing your Voice
Step 1. Use a hoarse voice
One of the most characteristic symptoms of laryngitis is hoarseness, which is that hoarse, fatigued voice we have after yelling too much.
- To make your voice hoarse and low, practice vibrating your vocal cords, croaking like a frog.
- Practice bleating the sheep as well, as this verse also causes the vocal cords to vibrate.
- After practicing these sounds, try to reproduce the tone of voice when you speak.
Step 2. Simulate a broken voice that turns off
When you have laryngitis and are forced to speak, you will often experience unexpected changes in the volume and pitch of your voice.
When speaking, try to break your voice after saying a few words, then turn the volume down to a lower level than normal. Alternate these two symptoms with a normal (but hoarse) tone of voice
Step 3. When you speak, make fatigued whispers
To simulate a laryngitis problem, in addition to breaking your voice and lowering the volume, you should also whisper more often. When you have this condition, your vocal cords won't always be able to make sounds. You can replicate this symptom by dropping your voice into a fatigued sigh when you speak.
- Make sure you continue to alternate between a broken voice, a drooping voice, whispers, and a normal hoarse voice.
- When moving from one vocal effect to the next, try to make very natural transitions, so as not to give your listener the impression that you are faking it.
Step 4. Cough when you speak
Laryngitis often causes sore throats and dry throats, so people who have lost their voices cough when they speak.
- Don't cough too often, but after a few minutes of talking, simulate some dry cough.
- A cough occurs when the body forcibly expels air from the lungs, a process other than that required to make the vocal cords vibrate. This is why it is possible to cough even after losing your voice.
Part 2 of 2: Making the Fiction More Convincing
Step 1. Complain about symptoms in the days leading up to the loss of your voice
In addition to simulating different vocal effects, you can try other strategies to make your pretense of losing your voice more believable. To set the stage for your performance, complain of a sore throat or irritation and cough for a day or two before losing your voice.
Step 2. Talk less than you normally would
Regardless of what caused the laryngitis, the best therapy to heal is to rest the voice. This means that if you really lost your voice you would try to rest it, in order to recover it faster.
Try using your body language more, such as nodding or shaking your head, instead of speaking to communicate with someone
Step 3. Write down the things you want to communicate
Laryngitis is often accompanied by a sore throat and cough. Both of these symptoms can make you difficult to speak and make you feel pain. In addition to speaking less and using body language, try writing what you want to say.
You can alternate between oral communication (rich in vocal effects) and written communication (to rest your voice), to give the impression that you really have laryngitis
Step 4. Drink lots of water
Another effective remedy for laryngitis is drinking lots of fluids, especially water. To make your staging more believable, drink a lot. Especially if you have to talk for a long time, drink small and frequent sips of water.
Step 5. Get some throat lozenges
Sore throat lozenges are a common remedy when people have lost their voices, so you may want to take them too, to make your play more believable.
