The 5-minute vocal warm-up before any big meeting

Your voice is a muscle system. Walking into a pitch cold is like sprinting without stretching.

Minute 1: Lip trills. Blow air through loosely closed lips, sliding pitch up and down.

Minute 2: Sirens on 'ng'. Glide from your lowest to highest comfortable note.

Minute 3: Jaw and tongue release. Massage the jaw hinge, then stretch the tongue out and down.

Minutes 4–5: The 4-count breath. In for 4 through the nose, low into the belly, out for 8 on a gentle 'sss'.

Finish by saying your opening line three times, each slightly slower than the last.