Chapter 16 - The Care and the Use of the
Preacher's Voice
Chapter 16 - The Care and the Use of the
Preacher's Voice
The voice of God's man is the thing that is used to transfer what is
in his mind to the minds of his people. It is the vehicle which God has
chosen with which to deliver His truth to His people. Because of this,
the preacher must take extra care of his voice. It matters not how spiritual
he is, how sincere he is or how prepared he is; when his voice is gone,
his primary purpose is gone. John the Baptist was called a voice. Because
of the importance of the preacher's voice, he should watch it carefully
and care for it properly There are four things that cause voice trouble
for a preacher.
I. STRAIN
Strain is almost always caused by improper care of the voice and by
improper knowledge of its limitations. There are many things that a preacher
can do to prevent this enemy from hampering or eliminating his opportunity
for doing the thing that God has called him to do and being the thing that
God has called him to be.
1. Perform vocal exercise. Any muscle in the human body needs
exercise. Athletic teams must properly exercise before a game or they will
damage their muscles. The wise pastor will perform vocal exercises before
preaching and, for that matter; make them a part of his regular schedule.
Singers are taught to exercise their voices before concerts. Athletes are
taught to exercise their bodies before games. Soldiers exercise their bodies
before battle. Why shouldn't the preacher exercise his voice before preaching!
When God called me to preach, I saw no way that I could ever be a success
at it! I went to the Texas University at Arlington and told the Dean that
I was going to be a preacher; so he gave me permission to take an excessive
number of speech and public speaking courses. It was there that I learned
to exercise my voice, and though I do not have the strongest voice in the
world, it has enabled me to preach over 42,500 sermons over a period of
nearly 40 years. This I think would not have been possible had I not been
taught vocal exercises. In the morning early I use the long vowels preceded
by an "h"-like "ha, ha, ha, he, he, he, hi, hi, hi, ho, ho, ho, hu, hu,
hu." I exercise with my voice coming from the stomach and not from the
throat. Then I do the same thing with the short vowels, "ha, ha, ha, he,
he, he, hi, hi, hi, ho, ho, ho, hu, hu, hu." Then I put my hands on my
stomach and do the same thing several times. Then I lay across the bed
with my head hanging off the side of the bed and go through the same exercises
several times. If a preacher has the slightest voice problem he should,
while he is young, take voice lessons and learn the proper care for that
part of his anatomy which is the same thing as a hammer is to a carpenter,
a stethoscope is to a doctor; a scalpel is to a surgeon, a trowel is to
a brick mason and a needle is to a seamstress.
2. Arise early in the morning; drink a big, tall glass of hot water;
and then do the vocal exercises. Some people put a little lemon juice
in the hot water. This is a good way for a preacher to start the day
3. Avoid lying down and/or taking naps right before speaking.
4. Sing a lot. Singing is good voice exercise. Of course, this
should not be excessively loud singing; just sing with a normal singing
voice, being careful to sing from the diaphragm or stomach rather than
the throat.
5. Do some public speaking prior to the service in which you will
preach. I find it helpful to teach a Sunday school class before I preach
on Sunday morning and to speak in some way at an early service on Sunday
evening. Since the teaching of a class is not as strenuous as preaching,
I find it good vocal exercise for the preach mg that is to follow.
6. Stay calm at other events. The preacher should find some way
to express his enthusiasm and excitement at a ball game other than straining
his voice.
7. Pronounce words distinctly. A mispronunciation of words is
usually caused by improper training and will often cause problems with
the speaker's voice. The same thing that causes a preacher to mispronounce
his words also causes the voice to become strained. The wise pastor will
work diligently in an effort to learn to pronounce properly his vocabulary
8. Do not force excitement. Forced excitement tightens the voice
muscles. Let the excitement while preaching come from the heart to the
voice, not from the voice to the heart. When excitement comes from the
heart to the voice, it is a natural excitement and will aid in taking the
voice to the diaphragm. When excitement is not natural, it lifts the voice
to the throat and leads to strain. It is usually best for a preacher not
to start his sermons with a loud voice. Start with a calm, assured voice.
Then when excitement comes in the heart, the heart will send the throat
a message and say that it is ready now for volume! The heart has done its
work first, and strain is less likely.
9. Start slowly. Have you ever noticed two prize fighters in
the ring at the beginning of round one? They spar awhile; each feels out
his opponent; and then gradually the intensity builds. This is what the
wise preacher will do. Re will start gradually, let his voice become adjusted
to a certain pitch, and then the volume can be increased without damaging
the throat.
10. Stay close to the microphone. Use the microphone! I do not
like for the public address men to "ride gain" on me while I preach. By
that I mean, if I get loud, I do not like for them to turn down the volume
of the public address system. If I get soft, I do not like for them to
turn it up. I prefer to use voice fluctuation rather than "riding gain."
Because of this, I do not prefer to use a lapel mike. Many splendid preachers
use them with great success; however; I would not advise a preacher who
has even the slightest problem with his voice to use a lapel mike.
11. You should be able to hear your amplified voice. The public
address system should have speakers placed close enough to the preacher
so he can hear his own voice easily. Avoid using small speakers throughout
the auditorium. The sound should come from speakers near the preacher so
he can hear himself. Often I will preach in a church building where the
people can hear me better than I can hear myself. This always poses a problem.
In an effort to hear myself I speak louder than I should. I soon find myself
hoarse and often make the mistake of straining my voice.
12. Use an excessive amount of treble on the PA system with not much
bass. Get behind a microphone and test this for yourself. Ask someone
to adjust the PA system to be heavy on bass. In fact, turn the treble all
the way down and the bass all the way up. Notice how muffled the words
seem to be. Then turn the bass all the way down and the treble all the
way up and notice how much easier it is to understand the words. This is
not to say that the treble should be all the way up and the bass all the
way down, but the emphasis should be on the treble rather than on the bass.
13. Do not use an adjuster or a mixer on your PA system. This
will lower the volume automatically when you speak loudly and will raise
it when you speak softly This may be good for lecturing, but is treacherous
for preaching. Some electronic engineers who have never preached love them,
but no real preacher enjoys preaching when the volume of his voice is controlled
by a machine. of all the things that destroy my voice and cause me to strain
it, this is the one that does the most damage the quickest!
14. Use a change of pace while preaching. Do not preach an entire
sermon at full volume. Give your voice a chance to rest. An athlete does
this with his body. A preacher should do it with his voice. This also enables
the hearer to have a chance to relax. It provides added effectiveness.
If everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized. For proper care of
the voice, there should be some loud speaking, some soft speaking, some
conversational tone and a variety of volume.
15. Exercise your voice on days you do not do any public speaking. The
voice is like a muscle. It can be sore if it is not used regularly A preacher
who preaches daily and who cares for his voice properly will have less
voice trouble than a preacher who preaches one day a week, all other things
being equal. So on days when the voice is not used for preaching, it should
be exercised on a regular basis.
16. Try to avoid tension while preaching. The more relaxed the
preacher can be, the less likely he is to strain his voice. Enjoy preaching.
Don't let it be a chore or a time of unnecessary tension. Relax in the
Lord while you preach. Enjoy it, and avoid tension as much as possible.
17. Use your voice early in the service so as to test it and therefore
learn how to pace yourself and use it when you preach. By that I mean,
make the announcements and/or recognize the visitors so that you will know
your voice and its condition before you stand to preach.
18. If following another preacher, learn to be yourself. Do not fret if he has taken the congregation to a high pitch and to a lofty
spiritual experience. Realize that God has you there for a purpose too.
Do not compete with him. Do not fret or try to out preach him. Just be
yourself. Yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and let Him use you for the
purpose that He has you there.
19. Do not try to deliver a sermon, but deliver your soul and lose
yourself in a truth. The throat loosens when a preacher is lost in
his message. When he is totally consumed with what he is saying, there
is less strain on his voice.
II. TENSION
Just as strain causes voice problems, tension is also a great enemy
to preaching.
1. Prepare in advance, and avoid the meeting of a deadline. When
a deadline is approaching, the preacher's entire body be- comes tense.
It affects his voice and will lead him to not having his tool sharpened
for its work.
2. Do not discuss problems before preaching. Do not allow church
problems or personal problems to be a part of your conversation or thinking
process before you preach. Problems will tense up the body, including the
voice, and often cause serious voice problems while preaching.
3. Take care of no church business before preaching. Do not have
board meetings, committee meetings or counseling sessions that could cause
tension.
4. Do not read your mail before preaching. It could bring some
bad messages that could cause you to enter the pulpit with a tense body
and a tense throat.
5. Avoid fellowship before preaching. There should be no coun-seling
or fellowship. This too could create tension that could affect the voice.
6. Avoid heavy praying before preaching. This is mentioned in
another chapter and on both occasions I approach this point with fear and
trembling for fear I be misunderstood. I believe in heavy praying. I believe
in all night praying. I believe in fasting and praying. I believe in supplication
and prayer, but I do not believe that right before a sermon is the time
for a preacher to become tense. It can affect his voice adversely
Nothing should be done that would take the slightest chance of causing
any disagreement before the man of God walks in the pulpit. This will not
only affect him adversely in his preaching, but also it could damage his
voice.
7. Always preach with a collar that is loose. If you like to
button your collar while preaching, then buy shirts that are a half size
too large. Do not be timid about unbuttoning your collar and slightly loosening
your tie. Of course, there are circumstances when this should not be done.
These would include commencement exercises, weddings, funerals, etc., but
behind his own pulpit, the pastor should feel free to do what is necessary
to care for his voice.
8. Do not preach to individuals. This also is mentioned else
where under another subject, but when a preacher preaches to individuals
and uses the pulpit as a whipping post or scolding place, he will more
than likely become tense, and his voice could be affected.
All of this is to say that the preacher should avoid tension. Voice
problems are caused not only by strain but also by tension.
III. STOMACH
Most voice problems are really stomach problems. If the stomach is in
good shape, the voice is usually in good shape.
1. Never speak right after eating. I try to leave at least three
hours between my last meal and my sermon.
2. Eat very little at bedtime.
3. Wear loose clothing. Tight pants can cause a problem with
the preacher's voice while he delivers his sermon.
4. Rely a lot on juices. Many years ago I used to preach revival
campaigns. Sometimes I would begin a revival campaign with a hoarseness.
When such was the case, I would get off all solid foods and stay on vegetable
and fruit juices for the entire revival. Usually my voice was in better
shape at the end of the revival meeting than it was at the beginning.
5. Eat plenty of vegetables. Though I do not live on strictly
a vegetarian diet, I believe that I could do so because I believe one of
the great secrets to health is the consumption of many vegetables. Eat
salads that include lettuce, celery, greens, cucumbers, etc. Then enjoy
cooked vegetables such as carrots, asparagus, green beans, zucchini, squash,
greens and other leafy vegetables.
6. Avoid dairy products within two hours of preaching. Dairy
products have a way of causing a congestion in the throat and should be
used on a limited basis and not at all near the time of preaching.
IV. COLDS AND SORE THROATS
I travel every week. In January I am in the Florida Keys one week and
in Alaska the next week. I go from sub-zero weather to tropical weather
within a matter of days. I am in all types of climates, all degrees of
humidity, and I must constantly watch myself. Thanks be to God, I have
not missed a speaking engagement in over 20 years. Part of this is because
I fight constantly to avoid sore throats and colds.
1. Keep your head and feet warm and dry. My mother used to say
to me, "Son, the most important thing about being outside in the cold is
to keep the extremities warm. Keep your feet warm and your head warm."
2. Avoid drafts. Avoid drafts on airplanes, while driving in
a car, while sleeping, and by all means, while preaching. Pamper your-
self. When you are in a draft, do whatever you can to have it removed or
to have yourself removed from it.
3. Watch auditorium temperature. A building that is too hot or
too cold can play havoc with a preacher's voice. Every Sunday morning at
7:45 I go to the auditorium in our church, read the temperature and look
at a chart of days in the past when the outdoor temperature was nearly
the same. Then my maintenance man and I decide the degree of heat or air
conditioning that we will need for the service.
4. You may be wise to wear year-round suits. It may be below zero outside,
but the temperature in the auditorium will be about the same in January
that it is in July If the preacher preaches in a heavy wool suit in January
and a thin light suit in July in the same auditorium with the same temperature,
it could affect his voice and his throat.
5. Always keep a coat, a hat and rubber shoes available. Weather
can change. In the fall and winter do not be very far from a hat, coat
and rubber shoes. If the preacher must stay late after the service, it
might be wise to have some dry underclothing available. If he is perspiring
heavily when he finishes his sermon, it might be wise for him to consider
changing his undershirt and perhaps his shirt before counseling or fellowship
or caring for other duties before he goes home.
There are many other things that a preacher should do or avoid doing,
but time and space will not permit us to cover them. For example, it is
wise for a preacher to choose a sermon that will fit the condition of his
voice. It is wise for him to know the condition of his voice and to decide
to keep his sermon within the range of his voice for that particular day.
Perhaps the most important thing that we can say is, let your voice
be honest. Let it show your heart. Use the same voice in preaching that
you always use. Be yourself and take good care of that part of your anatomy
that God has chosen to use to spread His truth, to train His people, and
to point sinners to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!
You have only one voice; it is the only one you will ever have! Take care
of it! God needs it!
