How to take care of your throat and protect your voice, according to live sellers 

Live selling has become a big trend online, with energetic sellers captivating their audiences with their charm, responsiveness, and, most importantly, their lively voice.

But long hours of streaming and interacting with customers in real time, has rendered live sellers discomfort in their throat and their vocal cords, enduring a lot of strain.

Five live sellers share with GMA News Online essential strategies they learned and swear by so they could better take care of their bread and butter, their voice.

1. Get proper sleep

While it may not seem directly related to our voice, Kevin Puzon learned that adequate sleep is essential for vocal well-being.

According to the live seller, lack of sleep can negatively affect breath support and the mechanics of voice production, causing muscles to work harder than necessary and increasing the risk of vocal strain.

“When I have less hours of sleep, I am prone to having a hoarse or cracky voice,” he said, sharing a time when he had already tasted blood in his mouth while he was at work, so he had to take a pause.

“My pain tolerance is very low, so for me, it’s very painful,” Kevin said.

After a good 8 hours of sleep, rehydrating his throat, and taking his vitamins, he was eventually able to recover with a new lesson learned.

Kevin Puzon said lack of sleep can negatively affect breath support

2. Learn vocalization techniques

Vocal warm-ups aren’t just for singers; they’re also helpful for live sellers like Mitzi Galido.

“Kasi kapag kumakanta ka — you know where to grab your voice. Sa’n siya [voice] nanggagaling? Sa diaphragm. Kapag alam mo gamitin ‘yung voice mo, less likely na you’re gonna strain your voice,” she said.

It's not a requirement for them to learn vocalization techniques, but it is surely helpful for the job.

Some simple exercises they may learn online are humming, lip trills, and gentle pitch exercises to stretch and relax the muscles involved in voice production.

“And siguro, maliban sa kung pa’no mo siya huhugutin, it’s like the modulation ng voice mo, ‘yung tone, kelan ka ba magbibigay ng big energy or kelan ka magso-slow down para makapag-explain ka ng products,” she said.

3. Use proper equipment

Utilizing a good-quality microphone can reduce the need to project your voice forcefully, which will help minimize vocal strain.

“‘Yung microphone namin sa live rooms, kahit malayo siya, sobrang lakas ng pick-up ng voice,” Francheska Dizon said, adding that the equipment helps her talk clearly without needing to shout or exert too much vocal effort.

Additional equipment like a pop filter or sound amplifier will also help enhance the audio quality.

Francheska Dizon recommends having proper equipment

Francheska’s colleague, Dan Sheneill, agrees adding that an effective live selling setup also makes the video stream look presentable to viewers.

“‘Yung mga equipment, I think, nakakadagdag siya para mas maging professional-looking, maging decent ‘yung nabo-broadcast with the audience,” he said.

Before co-founding an e-commerce mover that focuses on brand building through multimedia and multi-live streaming, Gilbert Samson had experienced hosting live streams for 6 to 8 hours a day, which greatly affected his voice.

Gilbert’s voice became raspy, and his throat felt so painful as if something was always stuck.

“‘Yung boses ko talaga, parang gasgas siya,” he said. “Dahil nga sunod-sunod, 8 hours, tapos may ibang gigs ka pa sa labas, talagang nawala ‘yung boses ko.”

GIlbert Samson would endure up to 8 hours of live-selling which made his voice raspy.

It took him six months to recover, and he profoundly learned that overusing his voice without adequate rest can lead to strain or even cause long-term damage.

“When we started M-Commerce, that’s actually our top priority: to give the best treatment to our hosts,” he said, adding that their live sellers now only do broadcasts for a maximum of 4 hours a day with 2-hour breaks in between.

By planning shorter sessions or separating them, you lower the chance of overexertion and give your throat time to heal, Gilbert learned.