I'm a teacher and my voice is so low, what can I do?

Question

Every time I address my learners they make an enormous effort to hear me and the ones at the back start doing other things as they can't hear me. Are there any strategies to improve my voice volume, tone, pitch, etc,?

Answer 1

Try talking voice lessons. I learned how to project my voice from working on stage in middle school, it pays off now! I can be heard over just about any crowd, but it doesn't come across as yelling. I am simply able to speak very loudly and my students kind of get a kick out of it!

Answer 2

If you mean low in pitch don't worry, that is a good thing as it carries better. If you mean low as in quiet there are several things you can do.

1. Don't shout. You will get a sore throat and the kids will start to shout back at you - this is not a good thing as class can always make more noise than one teacher!

2. Fix a point on the centre of the back wall of the classroom just above the heads of the back row of kids and talk to that point. This will enable you to project your voice more easily. After quite a short time it becomes second nature. It also has an unexpected benefit in that the youngsters in the back row think you are watching them and as it is very common for the most disruptive ones to inhabit the back row so your basic classroom discipline will improve!

3. In the dim and (very) distant past when I was training as a teacher we were advised to never stop looking round the room and to fix attention on a random pupil for 2 or 3 seconds at a time and talk to that pupil while looking at him/her. This, again, soon becomes second nature and although it is primarily a method for ensuring good discipline it also enables you to have a focus for your voice.

4. If you are a new teacher you should have a mentor on the staff, an older, much more experienced teacher. Ask him or her how they do it! If you do not have a mentor then take your courage in both hands and ask someone in the staff room. It is often quite good to try the class music teachers as they have a compounded problem because of the overall level of necessary noise in the room and music rooms are usually much bigger than standard sized classrooms.

4. Once you have mastered the art of voice projection you will find that you can lower your voice to even lower levels. I rarely, if ever, had to talk to a class in anything other than my normal speaking voice, which is not loud! and you can then amuse yourself by gradually lowering your voice till it is almost a whisper and still have every one of the little darlings hanging on your every word!

5. Over time you will find that you will be able to make your voice cut through any level of sound in the room and get to one particular pupil if necessary.

Remember that as with so much else in teaching it is a matter of practice. In the same way that a very experienced teacher can plan a succesful lesson 'on the hoof' so that same teacher quite possibly had problems with their voice when they started out!
The vast majority of new teachers have to have some time off in their first term for a serious sore throat or for losing their voice. You are not the only one with troubles as unless they are drama teachers or music teachers used to singing a new teacher's voice is not used to doing so much work!

Answer 3

As other suggest, a microphone/speaker system is relatively inexpensive and can be very effective. I have seen this be a very effective tool in several classrooms, especially when the room has poor acoustics or lots of ambient/background noise (such as from adjoining classrooms and air-conditioning/heating systems).

Also consider asking another teacher to sit quietly in the back of your classroom to observe. That's how I learned that the ambient noise from the next classroom made it truly impossible for students in the back row of my classroom to hear me speak; from that advice, I completely "flipped" my classroom so that my voice could be heard throughout the room.

In lieu of an observer (whose mere presence will often change students' conduct), consider using an audio or videotape recorder (with the students' knowledge). If you have two or three recorders, you could compare the same delivery at different locations in the room (you could even do this when students are NOT present, if the problem isn't student noise).

Another strategy is to give students a visual "cue" to signal that they can't hear you -- a hand signal, or raising a ruler or notebook over their heads. (You might also provide an audio cue for them to use, if you don't notice the visual cue when they use it.)

As noted, standing in the middle of the room, when speaking can be helpful. I sometimes found it helpful to move around the classroom while I talked; this was one way to keep track of student activity during classroom discussions. Some teachers arrange their classroom so that the teacher's desk is more centered.

Certainly, it's also possible to improve your voice projection, and a seminar or class or training session may help. Keep in mind that your problem may not just be "projection" but "diction" or "pronunciation" or "tone."

Keep in mind that there are other strategies to improve your communication with your students, such as striving to provide a "visual" version of what you're saying, which not only helps those who can't hear every word, but also helps those who may process visual information more effectively than aural information.

Answer 4

Move the desks so that there is an arc in the room, not rows, and then walk around the room. You can also see a music voice coach. You could even try a microphone if this is a medical problem.

Answer 5

Never shout - you'll damage your larynx if you do that daily. Basically, if you're going home with a sore throat, you're not using your voice correctly.

What you need to do is something called voice projection - it's using your diaphragm to increase the volume of your voice. It's rather difficult for me to explain how to do it. I learned how to when I was a kid and interested in drama.

I'd recommend getting a voice trainer for a while and see what they can do.

Answer 6

Stand in the middle of the room rather than the front. Not only does this help with hearing but it also helps with discipline. You don't get used to standing up front and not moving around but the students in the back are watched constantly.

Answer 7

Ask your school to let you go on a voice training; And while you're training your voice, try to write on the blackboard more than you speak. This way you can stay teaching without any problem =D

Answer 8

Try using your outdoor voice.

Also try writing on the board, so if the students dont hear you they can read what you are saying.

Try standing close to the students
Move up and down, through the rows so you are always close to them
and you make sure all of your students hear you

Answer 9

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Answer 10

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