It's a quarter to four.
Your headset is on, the laptop is open, and your shoulders are somewhere up near your ears.
The customer on the other end asks you to repeat yourself.
You lean toward the screen and say it again, a little lower and a little rougher than this morning.
When you get home, your kids ask why you sound sick.
"I don't even raise my voice"
That's what people who talk on the phone all day tell me.
"I'm not a singer. I'm not a teacher yelling over a class. I talk at a normal volume. How can I be hoarse?"
It's not the volume. It's the position you hold your voice in for eight hours.
Hold your arm out
Hold your arm straight out to your side.
It isn't heavy. You could lift it a hundred times.
But hold it there for ten minutes, and it starts to burn.
The arm didn't do hard work. It held one position for too long.
Phone work does the same thing to the voice.
Head pushed forward toward the screen, jaw tight, breath high in the chest, the same low tone call after call. The small muscles around the vocal cords hold that position for hours, and by the afternoon they're exhausted.
When the voice sits on the breath and the neck is free, a full day of calls stops being a strain. That's the principle behind everything I teach: move the effort from the throat to the diaphragm.
Four phone habits that wear out your voice
Talking with your head pushed toward the screen
The further your head comes forward, the more the throat is squeezed. Sit back, bring the screen up to eye level, and keep your neck long.
Finishing sentences on empty
On the phone you talk in long stretches without noticing. The end of each sentence comes out squeezed and gravelly. Take a quick, low breath before you start a long explanation.
Dropping into the "creaky" bottom of your voice
Many people talk on the phone in a low, rumbling tone, especially at the end of sentences. That creak, often called vocal fry, is a sign the voice is running without enough air. Speak a little higher and lighter, on the breath.
Talking over an open office
When everyone around you is on a call, everyone talks louder. A good headset microphone lets you speak softly and still be heard.
A full day of calls, without the strain
- Hum gently for two minutes before your first call.
- Keep water on your desk and sip between calls.
- Between calls, take ten seconds of silence instead of chatting.
- Once an hour, stand up, roll your shoulders back, and let your jaw relax.
- Smile slightly when you talk. It lifts the voice and keeps it from sinking into the creak.
When to see a doctor
Daily phone hoarseness usually comes from how the voice is used. But hoarseness that lasts more than two weeks, pain when you speak, or a voice that disappears needs an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor first.
Learning it properly
Your voice is a work tool, just like your laptop. Nobody taught you how to use it for eight hours a day, and that's not a lack of talent. It's a technique.
At Kolot, I've taught hundreds of people who use their voice all day to speak for hours without the throat paying for it. The full method is in my online course, Rediscover Your Voice, and my free mini course is a good first step.
Questions people ask
Why do I lose my voice from talking on the phone?
Usually from how you hold your voice for hours: head forward, jaw tight, breath high and a low creaky tone. The small throat muscles tire from holding that position all day.
What is vocal fry, and is it bad for my voice?
Vocal fry is the low, creaky sound at the bottom of the voice, often at the end of sentences. Now and then it's harmless, but talking in it all day usually means the voice is running without enough air.
How can I protect my voice in a call center job?
Sit tall with the screen at eye level, use a good headset so you can speak softly, sip water between calls, take a breath before long answers, and give your voice short breaks of silence.
