Nasally Voice: Drawbacks, Types, Ways to Get Rid of Nasally Voice

Nasally Voice is a type of speaking voice, which is characterized by “nasal” quality. A person can have nasally voice naturally due to his/her genes also. Nasally voice sounds like as if the speaker’s nose is being squeezed or pinched when speaking. Nasally voice comes out as a pinched, closed and constricted sound.

Well, the most obvious drawback of having a nasally voice is that it is not very pleasant to hear. Another thing about nasally voice is that it doesn’t command authority and people tend to take the speaker with a nasally voice very lightly. Last but not the least, a person who is speaking with a nasally voice is not using all the vocal mechanism which the God has bestowed upon him/her for communication.

There are 3 types of nasally voice which are explained in detail below:

#1. Hyponasal: This type of nasally voice occurs as a result of very less passing of airflow through the nasal tract, such as seen during nasal congestion from allergies, cold or physical obstruction. Hyponasal voice can also be experienced if a person is suffering from sinusitis with the nose always being blocked. To clear this type of nasally voice, patient needs to consult an ENT specialist who will treat the congestion problem to allow the right amount of airflow through the nasal tract and vocal tract. This will maximize the vocal projection as it uses both the tracts and the person can get rid of hyponasal voice and use the full sound.

#2. Hypernasal: This type of nasally voice sounds as if it is coming completely through the nose. This happens as a result of very less airflow through the nose and nasal tract. A hypernasal voice is not pleasant to listen to and this type of nasally voice sounds very squeezed and cartoonish. In hypernasal voice, the person does not utilize the full sound, which leads to production of this type of nasally voice.

#3. Naturally Nasal: Some people have naturally sounding nasally voices as a result of genes. A naturally nasally voice is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are not happy with your naturally sounding nasal voice then there are ways in which the nasally quality of the voice can be lessened.

Yawning and Stretching To Get Rid Of Nasally Voice: There are some simple methods of resolving the nasally voice to a more flowing and open voice. A great method to do that is yawning and stretching with a simple “ahhhh”. This opens the throat and gets the flow of vibration, air and sound moving through the throat and out towards the person to whom you’re speaking.

Getting Rid of Nasally Voice By Opening The Mouth & Throat: Another simple method of resolving a nasally voice is by opening the throat and that is to simply say, “Ooohhhh.” This will get the air flow going again through the throat, mouth and out towards the person whom you are addressing. One way to decrease nasally quality of your voice is opening your mouth more when speaking or singing. This will increase the airflow through the nose and make your voice sound less nasally.

The nasally quality of the voice can also be decreased by making sure the tongue isn’t raised high. Try not raise your tongue too high; especially the back of the tongue, and avoid touching the tongue to the ceiling of the mouth. This will help in resolving the nasally voice. You can practice lowering of your tongue in front of a mirror as you are speaking or singing.

The manner in which we throw out our vowels when speaking also lends the nasally quality to our voice. When speaking “A” sounding vowels, try pronouncing it with lesser “bite.” Another example is when using the word “Love,” it is most often pronounced as “laaav.” So try to pronounce the letter “a” as “uh.” This will immediately resolve the nasality in the voice.

Always remember, that in order to be an effective and an authoritative speaker, one should speak using the whole vocal mechanism: in your breath, in your body and in your voice. If you are able to embrace your nasally voice and are happy with it then more kudos to you! Otherwise you can try these methods for resolving your nasally voice. If your voice has become nasally from a medical condition, then addressing the underlying condition will get rid of the nasally voice.