How do I project my voice?

‘My only task is to know myself and to reflect this knowing through the sound of my voice.’

Students ask me all the time, “How do I project my voice?”
It’s a very good question—and a much bigger one than it first appears.

What does projection really mean? And what happens when this idea isn’t clearly understood? If projection isn’t the whole story, then what does bring the voice into balance?

This is a big topic for singers. We’ll begin from the singer’s point of view, but at some point we have to step back—way back—and look at the word projection from a distance.

I’m going to skip to the end first, and then work my way back.

Quite simply, projection on its own can cause the singer to bypass the Self—believing the goal is to reach the audience, rather than to remain connected to themselves.

Before trying to project to the audience, notice your own reflection: feel your voice in your body and how it comes out. Only then can projection be balanced—honouring both the singer (Self) and the listener.

One exercise I often do with students is to have them cup one ear, so they can truly hear themselves, while keeping the other ear open to the room. Many singers don’t actually know what they sound like, because they’re constantly pushing past themselves in an effort to reach the audience.

Let’s look at the words themselves:

Projection (physics): the action or process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface in another direction.
Reflection: the mirror-like return of waves from a surface.

Both definitions use "surface" to mean the body and the mirror-like echo of waves that gives feedback about the Self. In singing, the surface is the Self—the body, its vibrations, and the sounding board through which the singer's energy is reflected.

So what problems arise when projection isn’t properly understood?

Over many years of teaching, I see this pattern again and again. And while it shows up in the voice, its roots aren’t technical or physiological—they’re psychological and deeply human.

Misunderstood projection often leads to an abandonment of the singer and a need to please the audience. This creates pushing and overworking in the voice, which sets off a domino effect of stress in the nervous system. Over time, this can develop into anxiety, fear of singing, and a persistent feeling of not being good enough.

Most singers who grew up singing, taking lessons, or competing were repeatedly told to project and connect with the audience first.

That sounds reasonable, right? And for singers who already feel grounded in themselves, it can work. But for many others, it creates problems—especially when performing starts to trigger anxiety, and singing stops feeling natural and starts feeling like work.

This is often early conditioning. And this is the moment when the thing you love most—singing—can start to slip away.

It’s a complete paradigm shift when singers come into my studio and I ask questions:
How do you feel when you sing?
Where do you feel your voice coming from?
What if you didn’t have to push or work so hard to sing?

I sometimes ask, “If you asked a cello how it gets sound out to the audience, what would it say?” The cello would answer, “I just play myself.”

Our body is our instrument; emotions tell us how loudly to sing so we stay connected to ourselves. Sing too loud and you lose touch with your feelings.

The reverse is also true. If I don’t sing loudly enough, my voice can’t awaken the ground of awareness in my body—the very instrument I’m playing. So there’s a balance required: enough voice to connect inwardly, without overriding the Self.

Exercise: Work consciously with volume is one of the keys to restoring balance and connection.

Reflection is what lights up our inner connection. It gives us feedback and reminds us that the voice comes from within us—it’s not something we send outward, it is something that naturally reflects outward.

My only task is to know myself—and to reflect that knowing through the sound of my voice.

The audience can only feel that connection once I connect with myself first. True connection starts here. The good news is that we don’t need to think about the audience or try to reach them.

Connection with the audience happens through the connection of the singer. It happens simultaneously. Like a mirror, the voice reflects what is being heard and felt inside the singer.

To become a reflective singer, we must cultivate this inner world first.

And when we do—when we find the balance between inner reflection and outward sound—projection no longer needs to be forced. It happens naturally, as an extension of wholeness.