How to Lose Your Voice Fast

Download Article

Temporarily ruin your voice safely and quickly with our simple guide

Co-authored by Patrick Muñoz and Eric McClure

Last Updated: October 16, 2024 Fact Checked

Download Article

• Exerting Your Voice
|
• Using Food and Drink for Voice Loss
|
• Creating a Voice-Diminishing Environment
|
• Q&A
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

It's totally possible to lose your voice fast without resorting to smoking or getting a cold—you just need to strain or dry out your vocal cords. Exert your voice by screaming, singing, whispering, coughing, clearing your throat, or attending sports events or loud concerts. Eat and drink things that can diminish your voice (e.g. acidic, salty, and fatty foods, or caffeine or alcohol). Expose yourself to heat, cold, and loud ambient noise. To help break all of this down, we spoke to internationally-recognized voice and speech coach, Patrick Muñoz.

How to Lose Your Voice Easily

• Scream, sing, growl, or whisper to put pressure on your larynx and lose your voice quickly.
• Consume acidic, alcoholic, or caffeinated items to dry out your voice box.
• Run a dehumidifier or turn the heat on to reduce moisture and dry out your throat.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Exerting Your Voice

Download Article

1. 1
   Scream into a pillow. Muñoz explains that screaming at the top of your lungs is the most effective way to lose your voice. Find a thick pillow to scream into to muffle the bulk of the noise, preferably when no one else is close enough to hear it and be concerned. Continue until your voice feels raspy, and stop if you experience pain.

   • If you don’t feel like screaming, growl. This will make your throat sore and your voice raspy.
2. 2
   Whisper as much as possible. While whispering might seem like a method of preserving one's voice, it actually puts much more strain on your vocal chords than speaking normally does. Whispering also has a drying effect that can cause voice loss. Take every opportunity to whisper instead of talking at a regular volume by pretending that you need to be discreet during conversations, or by starting discussions in quiet places (e.g. a library).
   Advertisement
3. 3
   Sing karaoke. While professional singers generally warm up their voices before performing, amateur singers have a tendency to wear out their voices by singing too loudly and out of pitch. Spend an evening doing karaoke with friends to enjoy yourself while trying to lose your voice. The act of projecting your voice to fill a room or hall is very likely to cause bruising or swelling of your vocal cords, resulting in temporary laryngitis.
4. 4
   Clear your throat or cough repeatedly. Coughing or clearing your throat can put a strain on your larynx, diminishing your voice. Excessive coughing commonly causes laryngitis, either in the short-term or long-term. To lose your voice fast, prompt yourself to cough, or clear your voice repetitively until it becomes hoarse and raspy.
5. 5
   Attend a concert, go to a sports event, or hit the club. Muñoz says that one of the best ways to lose your voice is to just go have fun. He says, “go out to a bar, drink all night and talk over the music.” If you’re going to lose your voice, you might as well have fun doing it, right? Get into the action and cheer, sing along, or scream as much as possible.

   • Visiting a dance club, attending a demonstration, or going go karting are also options for loud activities that encourage voice exertion.
Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Food and Drink for Voice Loss

Download Article

1. 1
   Gargle vinegar and lemon juice. To cause irritation to the vocal cords and promote voice loss, make a mixture of white vinegar and lemon juice. Add 1/4 cup vinegar (2 oz.) and 1/4 cup lemon juice (2 oz.) to a glass, then stir. Gargle with the mixture for about 30 seconds, then spit it out and repeat if desired.

   • If the mixture is too potent for you, add 1/4 cup water (2 oz.) to dilute it.
2. 2
   Drink caffeinated drinks or alcohol. Caffeine and alcohol can have a dehydrating effect on the body, leaving your throat dry and raspy. Healthy vocal folds need moisture to vibrate and close properly, otherwise your voice will get breathy and hoarse. Spend a fun night out with friends at a cafe or bar and consume plenty of caffeinated or alcoholic drinks to lose your voice fast.

   • Don’t drink to the point of actual dehydration. Have fun, but be safe and responsible!
3. 3
   Consume fatty, spicy, or acidic food. Consuming food or drink that has a high acidic content can cause acid reflux, which in turn can irritate the vocal chords and trigger laryngitis. Fatty or spicy foods can have the same effect. To lose your voice fast, try consuming:

   • Citrus fruits
   • Tomatoes
   • Fried foods
   • Red meat
   • Cheese
4. 4
   Enjoy really salty, high-sodium foods. Eating food with high sodium content is bad for your voice because of the drying effect of the salt. To dry out your vocal cords enough to promote voice loss, go for bacon as an ultimate high-salt indulgence (which is also high in fat, another voice-diminishing element). Some other sodium-rich foods to eat include:

   • Pretzels
   • Salted nuts
   • Soya sauce
   • Instant soups
   • Pickles
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Creating a Voice-Diminishing Environment

Download Article

1. 1
   Turn up the heat or run a dehumidifier. Heating systems absorb moisture from the air, leaving rooms dry. This dryness can dehydrate your body, including your throat and vocal cords. To lose your voice fast, turn up the heat in your home or run a dehumidifier to keep the air as dry as possible.
2. 2
   Expose yourself to cold, dry air. Cold, dry air can irritate the larynx and hinder the vocal cords, diminishing your voice. If you are living in a cold climate, get outside for prolonged winter activities (e.g. cross-country skiing) or go for a long walk outdoors. If you are living in a warm climate, crank up the air-conditioning as much as possible.
3. 3
   Increase ambient noise. Muñoz says that if you want to lose your voice fast, increase the ambient noise level in your home or workspace so that you automatically have to speak louder or yell to communicate. People tend to naturally increase their voices by 3 decibels for every 10 decibel increase in ambient noise around them. Play loud music or movies in the background, or opt for instrumental scores if you need to concentrate without distractions.
Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search

Add New Question

• Question

  What can I do if my parents or teachers ask me why I am so quiet and shy?

  

  Community Answer

  Point to your throat to indicate that you cannot talk. If they think you're lying, then try to talk. The result will be a raspy voice.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 66 Helpful 421
• Question

  Can I just scream outside my house as long as I can? Will that help?

  

  Community Answer

  You would likely disturb other people, and your neighbors might call the police if you do so; I suggest you do it into a pillow instead.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 65 Helpful 298
• Question

  Why would anyone want to lose their voice?

  

  Community Answer

  There are certain songs that are great when you have a hoarse voice. And others just want to fake sick in their choir class!

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 157 Helpful 834

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

• Try pinching your throat gently and sing a few songs that are out of your range, like heavy metal or something high-pitched.
• Leave your mouth open for a long time to dry it out. This can work better than not drinking water for a while.
• Clear your throat harshly without taking a breath. If you do this for 5 minutes, you may lose your voice.
• Make sure to not overdo the symptoms. You may cause serious damage to your vocal cords.

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!