February 3, 2009 (Nashville Tennessee) ? Perhaps ?you are as young as you sound? should get equal billing with ?you are as young as you feel.? It?s commonly accepted that a health and exercise regime will help keep the body strong, but why not consider how much the speaking voice could also benefit from a program of care to keep the elderly from sounding weak. People who want to speak so that others will listen and pay attention, Renee Grant-Williams, a leading voice coach and communication skills expert, can help with tips that will show anyone how to project the voice with energy and confidence.

?It?s generally not the voice that wears out, but the power behind it that diminishes. If we use good support when we speak and exercise the voice-producing mechanisms regularly to prevent them from atrophy, we will be rewarded with a vibrant and resonant voice well into our later years,? Grant-Williams claims. ?We can?t stop having birthdays, but we can affect the way others perceive us at this stage of our life by keeping our voice presence strong and vital.?

Renee Grant-Williams is a well-known voice coach whose clients include senators, attorneys, salespeople, and celebrities like Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Linda Ronstadt, Randy Travis and Huey Lewis. Grant-Williams? book VOICE POWER: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade, and Command Attention (AMACOM Books, NY), has been endorsed by Paul Harvey and was chosen by Soundview Executive Book Summaries as one of the thirty best business books of 2002. She maintains, ?There?s no reason to speak with a voice that?s weak and scratchy when you have the ability to make it hum along smoothly.?

Here are some of the things that will protect and preserve the speaking voice:

--Eat sensibly, get plenty of rest, and keep body, brain, and voice well exercised.

--Use Passive Breathing to eliminate neck and shoulder tension when speaking.

--Use the strong muscles of the lower abdominals to support the voice.

--Keep moisture levels high with plant life, humidifiers, and eight glasses a day.

--Be alert for the voice-damaging symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

A graduate of and former instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as former Director of the Division of Vocal Music at the University of California, Berkeley, Renee Grant-Williams is an active member of the National Speakers Association, presenting communication programs to business organizations. She has been quoted by Cosmopolitan, Business Week, Southern Living, Elle, TV Guide, AP, UPI, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and has appeared on numerous television and radio outlets including CBS, NBC, Fox, Bravo, Bloomberg, MTV, GAC, NPR, and Voice of America.

For more information about Renee Grant-Williams, or to schedule an interview, visit www.MyVoiceCoach.com or call (615) 259-4900.