I’ve heard that whispering is bad for the voice. True or false?
First, let’s clarify the different meanings of whispering. There are two types of whispering – one is produced with voice, and the other without. In a voiced whisper, the vocal folds are vibrating but the voice is produced very softly and with much breathiness. It is low-effort (gently produced), low airflow, low pressure and very gentle on the vocal folds. We call this confidential voice and it is very healthy for injured vocal folds. It is, however, not useful for any type of communication except one-on-one in a very quiet environment. When the voiced whisper is produced with the intention of others hearing it easily, it is called a “stage” whisper. It is effortful and produced with considerable airflows and pressures and a high degree of muscle tension. That’s never a good idea and we suggest you avoid that type of whispering. The other type of whisper – the voiceless whisper, is produced by holding the vocal folds open and forming the sounds of speech with our mouth but without the
