Your speaking voice directly affects your singing. By taking good care of your voice while speaking, you ensure better health for your singing voice. Try making your speaking habits healthier by doing the following.

• Use full volume when you need to be heard (usually at sports events, parties, or clubs), but not screaming.
• Talk at a reasonable volume, not speaking loudly all the time.
• Notice your articulation as you speak to prevent tension — not speaking with tension, such as jaw tension, tongue tension, or glottals.
• Apply your knowledge of breathing while talking on the phone and avoid talking on the phone until your voice hurts due to lack of breath support.
• Find your optimum speaking pitch, rather than speaking on a pitch that's too low for you, which usually causes a grinding sound.