How to Fake Losing Your Voice

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The best ways to make your voice raspy, plus tips on maintaining your lie
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There are many reasons why people might want to pretend they’ve lost their voice, such as to play a role in a play, for a part in a movie, or to make an illness seem worse. However, taking steps to lose your voice can cause damage to your vocal cords, and it isn’t recommended. Next time you need to fake losing your voice, try pretending instead, by emulating the symptoms of laryngitis. Laryngitis is caused by swollen vocal cords, and it’s a common cause of voice loss that can be brought on by viral and bacterial infections, yelling or singing too much or too loudly, and smoking. The symptoms of laryngitis include not being able to talk or being unable to talk at a regular volume, hoarseness, a raspy voice, and croaking or squeaking when you talk. [1]

Things You Should Know

  • Modify your voice so that it sounds raspy and gravelly. Alternatively, make your voice crack and fade so it sounds like you're losing your voice.
  • Cough while you talk to really convince people that you're losing your voice.
  • Sell your story by pretending to have symptoms earlier in the week, and by talking less than you normally would.
Section 1 of 2:

Quick Modifications

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  1. One of the telltale signs of laryngitis is hoarseness, which refers to the raspy, strained quality your voice gets when you’ve used it too much. [2]
    • To make your voice sound raspy and gravelly, practice vibrating your vocal cords like you're croaking like a frog. [3]
    • Also practice making bah noises like you're a sheep, because this will also vibrate your vocal cords.
    • After practicing making sounds, start incorporating that same raspy quality into your speaking voice.
  2. Another common thing that happens when you have laryngitis is that you'll experience unintentional changes in the volume and pitch of your voice as you speak. [4]
    • When you're speaking, try to make your voice crack as you say certain words, and then make your voice fade out briefly so it’s quieter than usual. Alternate between doing this and speaking in your regular (but hoarse) voice.
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  3. In addition to the voice cracking and fading, you should also whisper more when you speak if you want to fake losing your voice. When you have laryngitis, your vocal cords will often have trouble producing sound, and you can replicate this by dropping your voice to a strained whisper intermittently as you speak.
    • Make sure you continue alternating between your voice cracking, fading, whispering, and speaking hoarsely at a normal volume.
    • When you transition between these different voice effects, try to make the transition as natural as possible so people don’t know you're forcing it.
  4. Laryngitis often causes a rawness in the throat and a dry throat, so it’s common for people who’ve lost their voice to cough sometimes when they speak. [5]
    • Don’t cough too much, but throw in a few dry coughs if you’ve been talking for a while.
    • A cough is created when your body forcefully expels air from the lungs, which is different from vibrating your vocal cords to create speech, meaning you can still cough if you’ve lost your voice. [6]
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Section 2 of 2:

Long-Term Strategies

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  1. On top of performing different vocal effects to give the impression that you’ve lost your voice, there are also other things you can do to support your act. If you want to lay a foundation for your voice loss, complain of a sore or tickled throat and a cough one or two days prior to losing your voice.
  2. Regardless of what causes laryngitis, the best remedy is always resting your voice. [7] This means that if you really had lost your voice, you'd be trying to rest it so that you could recover quicker.
    • Try using your body language more, such as nodding or shaking your head, instead of talking when you're communicating with someone.
  3. Laryngitis is often accompanied by a sore throat and coughing, and both these things can make it difficult and painful to speak. In conjunction with talking less and using your body language more, try writing things down to communicate instead of talking.
    • You can alternate between speaking with voice effects and writing (to rest your voice) to support the impression that you’ve got laryngitis.
  4. Another effective remedy for laryngitis is drinking lots of fluids, particularly water. [8] To support your act, drink lots of water. Especially if you have to talk for an extended period, take small and frequent sips of water.
  5. Soothing lozenges and cough drops are common when people have lost their voice, so you can do the same to support the idea of your laryngitis.
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  • Question
    Is it safe to take cough drops or throat lozenges when I don't need them?
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    One or two won't hurt you.
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  • Question
    How can I lose my voice and make it last for a few days?
    Lilfroosh
    Community Answer
    Here's what I did. Starting 3 days before my performance, I started to cough. I just coughed at random times. This made my throat hoarse and it hurt. If you take allergy medicine, stop taking it for a few days, that can also help.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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  • Question
    Why not just actually lose your voice?
    Community Answer
    You could possibly damage your vocal cords.
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      References

      1. ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/kids/laryngitis.html?WT.ac=ctg#
      2. ↑ http://www.entnet.org/content/hoarseness
      3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL2LQF0myW0
      4. ↑ http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/head-neck/diseases-conditions/hoarseness-frequently-asked-questions
      5. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/laryngitis/basics/symptoms/con-20021565
      6. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/cough/basics/definition/sym-20050846
      7. ↑ http://www.medicinenet.com/laryngitis/article.htm
      8. ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=6082396&page=1

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      If you want to fake losing your voice, try to make your voice a bit hoarse when you speak. Say occasional words with a cracked voice or a strained whisper. Incorporating both of these will make it seem more realistic. You can also cough when you talk, as though speaking tickles your throat. Keep a bottle of water with you and pause often to take a drink. In addition to faking the sound of your voice, try to talk less than normal, which you would do if it really hurt you to speak. For more tips, including how to practice vibrating your vocal cords to help you croak, read on!

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