What would I wish upon my worst enemy were he or she a public speaker or a singer? A long, deep breath before every phrase. Every in-breath creates inspiratory tension. The long, deep breath creates more than most. It’s not what we’re built to do. The diaphragm wants to descend quickly under the influence of the brain’s choreographer, the cerebellum. You can be attuned to that movement. Say quickly and incisively: Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum. Notice what the diaphragm—in synch with your abdominal wall, your ribs, your back— does. Now in your next in breath, your next inspiration, recall this incisive motion. It will find itself if you allow it. It is just such a breath and an incisive adduction of the vocal folds that helped me recover my voice after radiation and throat surgery, a voice pronounced un-recoverable by hospital approved speech specialists. For those of you with healthy voices it will be a revelation. For those with unhealthy voices it will be a therapy. Image: pkproject/Shutterstock