Protips.

• Establish a supply of ice cubes in the staff fridge. When on shift, get a cup of ice cubes plus a small amount of water. Have regular small sips of ice water. Replenish as required. Keep to water rather than frozen cokes etc (sugar is not your friend)

• Check the settings on the room aircon/heatpump etc. If accessible, make sure it is not too warm. If too warm it 1. helps spread of airborne germs. 2. makes you sleepy. 3. tends to bump up the humidity.

World Health Guidelines for office air in a sedentary occupation is six changes of air per hour and room temp of 18-22^o C (rough test, someone drops a fart or has a bowl of noodles, if you can still smell it after 10mins, air is not circulating enough)

• Be aware of the volume and pitch of your voice. For volume, should be able to talk just above a whisper and still be clearly heard if your mic settings are right.

If cheap rubbish headphones, buy your own gaming headphones with noise cancellation and noise isolation. This way, you are not tempted to talk louder if in a noisy room. (well run call centre should have rules about this stuff, but many don't.) Well worth the cost of decent gear.

• Pitch - Strive to talk with a relaxed, natural and intimate tone. Sell with the content, not with strange voice-overs. Imagine you are talking to a favourite elder (eg. grandmother, aunt) You'll actually get a better call result as well as saving your voice.

• Check out your own bad habits. Many people hit the call with a high pitched voice for the first 20 secs then drop the tone. This is out of nervousness/anxiety. It is bad habit, sounds harsh and artificial to the listener, and strains your vocal cords.

• Tone matching. Not so much for voice strain, but for better engagement. Try to mirror to tonal qualities of the listener. Go soft for the older lady, go bassy and guttural for your Kiwi redneck male etc.

• Think about what 'voice' you are using in respect of where your listener is. eg. Lot of new operators kinda shout at the listener as if they are calling out to them from the footpath. As opposed to your 'front door' voice. If that makes sense. If your listener is in their kitchen, they don't want to be shouted at. This strains your voice.

• Body tension. Develop a set of quick relaxation exercises. Tense upper body will cause tense vocal cords (& strain) And visa versa. Relax and breath, dammit! Slow down your delivery. Stand up at least 1-2 times per 10 mins. Shoulder rotations, arm stretches etc. Good for your health, and for your voice.

Lots more but that's plenty for a Reddit post! Good luck!