Trigger Breath

Take the breath through the nose, like you’re smelling a rose.

Take a deep breath through the nose like you’re smelling a rose. Feel how the walls of the throat relax and open up. Feel the coolness of the air as it makes it’s way all down to the bottom of the lungs. Your whole upper body feels relaxed, open and full of breath.

I learned this technique from my master voice teacher, an international opera star. She took every breath through the nose like this. Her tone was gorgeous. Since then, I see truly great singers and professional speakers from Ted Talk presenters to captains of industry to presidential candidates effectively using this technique.

In The Richard Jennings Voice Studio, I encourage both speakers and singers to use this as a trigger mechanism as you learn vocal techniques and skill sets.

The act of taking the nose breath can initiate and reinforce helpful practices:

Getting a full capacity of air in the lungs.

Letting go of all tension and relaxing the throat.

Creating a big, full resonating chamber to create warm, rich tone quality.

Letting the air flow freely, making your best sounds without strain or push.

Reminding you to listen to the sound as others hear it.

Take the deep nose breaths while mindful of the goals listed above. The more you do this, the easier It gets. Pretty soon you do all of these things that make your sound wonderful by habit. You find that you are always listening to your sound as others hear it. You get positive reinforcement from hearing yourself consistently sound your very best.

Make this part of your technique. Allow the relaxing nose breath to trigger your best habits and your very best vocal quality.