Speech Survival Secret Weapon
There are numerous items a speechie should have on their person at all times. Water and a writing utensil are among them. However, there is one delicious item that can save your voice and your performance.
Honey. Actors know about it. Do most speecies? As near as I can tell, no. We are nearing speech season and voices are out of shape, cold weather approaches, and the general orderly, chaos of the school year is about to start. Having a quick fix for a sore throat is a necessity. Honey is that miracle elixir.
Before competing, and your throat is hurting, pour some honey down. Honey coats the throat and gives the temporary fix of being "cured". It is also a tasty solution to not having a cough drop in your mouth while you perform--which should NEVER be done! It is temporary, so it might be a good idea to take the honey with you to your round. Just keep it out of site in case food is not allowed, and never take a drink at an inappropriate time (someone's performance, as you're walking to perform).
Note: be careful with consumption. Choking on honey will leave you teary eyed and may induce vomiting (seriously, an actor did this last semester while I was a stage hand for one of my University's productions). Take it slow and enjoy sugary salvation.
User Comments
Another secret weapon in Lemonade. Drink it the night before and you will wake up with a very smooth voice.
I had no idea about that. I'll have to try it sometime. This makes sense though. When I'm sick and have a sore throat I heat up some water and add lemon juice and honey. The two ingredients merge for a drink of pure awesome! And a good thing to have prior to a speech tournament.
Good call! ...and I had no idea about honey. Good thing I haven't already graduated and can't use that...lol. The good thing is, these same ideas can still be used before job interviews, presentations, etc.
Great advice, Lis! This is especially useful if you plan on doing any singing during a performance -- though a vocal warmup never hurts, either.
My problem was always my mouth going to dry (probably from nerves) and it got worse throughout the day. I would eat Lemonheads nonstop and that usually did the trick.