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Your voice is a key part of your presentation delivery. And having a tired, hoarse voice can negatively impact your presentation.

I’ve conducted many training programs where I’ve had to present for five or six hours a day for five days in a row. And I’ve also sung in choirs and as a soloist. So I understand how important it is to take care of my voice so I can rely on it being ready when I need it.

Here are my five tips for keeping your voice healthy:

1. Hydrate
   Drink plenty of water, and not just during your presentation, but also before your presentation so you can stay hydrated. Room temperature or warm water works best for me. I also drink warm tea without caffeine. I find that cold water, particularly ice water, actually constricts my vocal cords, and makes me feel hoarse, making it much harder for me to project my voice. Gargling with warm water and salt also helps (and the salt is natural disinfectant). Find something that works to keep your voice well lubricated.
2. Control the room environment
   Sometimes you’re in a room that is too hot, too cold or dry and that can quickly give you a sore throat. Check out the room before you present and decide if you need to open a window, lower the heat or increase the air conditioning.
3. Rest
   Rest is crucial. You need adequate sleep the night before a presentation so your voice sounds rested (and you are alert and focused). And you should rest your voice, so no screaming at a sporting event the night before. You can’t fake rest – if your voice is tired, people will hear it. If you’re going to do several presentations over a few days or conduct multi-day training programs, you have to accept the fact that you will tire your voice and will need extra rest. It’s like working out – if you do bicep curls with weights, you expect that your muscles will be sore the next day. As you gradually build up strength, you’ll be able to lift more weights without feeling as sore. The same is true with your voice.
4. Breathe
   Breathing properly keeps your voice supported. Take full deep breaths from your diaphragm and core that will support your voice to the end of the sentence, rather than taking shallow breaths from the top of your chest that cause you to run out of air. If you do yoga or Pilates, or you swim or sing, use that same kind of breathing.
5. Warm up your voice
   In preparation for your presentation, do some vocal warm-ups, much the same way as you would do flexibility stretches with your body. Vocalize from high to low – just open your mouth wide and say “ah,” making a continuous sound with a pitch that goes from high to low. Pronounce consonants and vowels and really move your lips. Repeat the “t” sound and the “k” sound, for example.

Screw up your face and then relax it. You may feel silly doing these exercises but they will help you loosen up and open up your voice.

If you follow these five tips and take care of your voice before, during and after your presentation, you can keep your voice sounding energized, full, supported and healthy.

Do you frequently or periodically make essentially the “same” presentation or speech? Perhaps, as Human Resources Director in a large organization, you regularly welcome new employees. Maybe you, as a department head in your marketing firm, initiate the weekly meeting of your group. You may, as City Engineer, routinely brief the City Council at its monthly meeting. As Engineering Dean, I frequently welcomed groups of high school students and their parents who were visiting our and other colleges of engineering to help them decide what university they may want to attend.

The good news about these apparently routine presentations is that they are easy, that is, relative to some of the critical one-of-a-kind speeches we also prepare for and present and sometimes dread. The bad news about the apparently routine presentations is also that they are easy. And, therefore, we may not give them proper attention, we get careless, we lose our edge, the audience knows it, and we fall short of the intent of oour communication.

More specifically, when we give the same presentation over and over, we may inadvertently fall into these traps:

1) Verbal graffiti: “Ah,” “you know,” “um,” and “he/she goes,” are examples. This happens because we are not thinking, not focusing-we are on autopilot. Think you don’t do this? Maybe you don’t, but why not verify? The next time you make that routine presentation, unobtrusively place an audio recorder on the lectern or table and, at your leisure, listen to yourself.

2) Negative body language or distracting behavior: Examples are holding our arms across our chest as we speak, which many interpret as your being autocratic and not open to input; failing to make eye contact with all portions of the audience; and excessive fiddling with our eye glasses.

3) No enthusiasm: You used the same words and sentences so many times that you just can’t get up for it. For example, I once worked in an organization where the chief executive, whenever he spoke and whoever he spoke to, always began with an expression like “I am pleased to be here”-got a little old.

For some of us who give that frequent speech to what is always a new audience, please consider the applicability of this advice: We get only one chance to make a first impression. Let’s leverage those “one chance” speaking opportunities.

Some thoughts for improving your “stump speech”:

1) Listen to a recording of your current presentation, as suggested above, or ask a colleague or friend to critique your speech. Identify strengths and weaknesses. Build on the former and fix the latter.

2) Commit to minimizing verbal graffiti. You don’t have to give a presentation to do this. Work at eliminating meaningless word and sounds in you every day conversations.

3) Find or develop a new opening each time, such as a story, metaphor, quote, or example. Yes, this requires extra effort. One benefit of that effort: thinking deeper about your audience and what you want them to learn and/or do. Using a new opening also adds freshness to your comments.

As stated by writer and author, Patricia T. O’Connor, “An audience is a terrible thing to lose.” That is exactly what happens when your audience senses that you are simply going through the motions. Instead, make them feel special. While you have presented the message many times, for them it should be as though it is the first time.

As a small business startup or current owner, learning negotiating skills is very important. Believe it or not, there are literally thousands of negotiations that can affect your business and your bottom line. These can be items as simple as getting a discount for your business cards or as complicated as a facility lease. It might be negotiating pay plans with employees or payment terms with a supplier.

The bottom line is most schools do not teach the art of negotiating. And believe me, it is an art, a talent, a skill! For some small business owners it comes naturally. For most of us, learning the art of negotiations comes through necessity, effort, and experience.

Here are 15 techniques that you might consider as you become a master of negotiating:

1. Always leave some money on the table.
2. Never compromise on your principles.
3. Try to judge what’s fair from the other side’s point of view.
4. Write down your goals and scenarios before every negotiation.
5. Ask questions.
6. Information is power.
7. Discuss only broad terms and conditions on the onset.
8. Whenever possible, let the other person make the first offer.
9. If you must make the first offer, make it high.
10. Always encourage the other party that we are making a deal.
11. Always come down very slowly if you are selling, and up very slowly if you are buying.
12. Never give up a concession without getting one in return.
13. Never lose track of how many concessions you have given up.
14. Be skeptical about deadlines. Most are negotiable.
15. Never let an issue be discussed unless you are prepared. Sleep on it.

The next time you are in a position of give and take, you are in negotiation. As a small business owner, this can happen more frequently than not. Most of the time there will be no clear winner but rather some manner of satisfaction on both sides. When this results, your negotiations have probably been successful. The important thing is to understand that the skill of negotiating is a learning process. The four Ps of negotiating: plan, patience, persistence, and practice are crucial to developing strong alliances and relationships that can continue in the future.

Think about these 15 principles and watch as you get the discount, free rent, the next sale, or extended payment terms. Then get ready to move on to the next negotiation, because there is always another one right around the corner.