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Superdome Ultimate Screaming Guide

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VIDEO:
New Orleans Saints Superdome ultimate screaming guide | New Orleans Saints Central - - NOLA.com

New Orleans Saints Superdome ultimate screaming guide | New Orleans Saints Central - - NOLA.com

Listen up, Who Dat Nation: If you're attending the game, you're part of the game. And if you want to affect the outcome of Sunday's Saints-Viking NFC Championship Game with your voice, you'd better know the right way to raise it.
With the help of a professional vocal coach, we've put together a Superdome screaming game plan for New Orleans' legendary "12th Man."

t's the diaphragm, stupid: "Ninety-nine percent of people, when they scream, scream from their throat," said Kristin Samuelson, a vocal coach who bills herself "The Voice Doctor." "You can actually see the muscles bulging in the neck. That's the brute force approach." But the way to maximize volume, Samuelson said, is to consciously push the air from your diaphragm -- the muscle separating the chest and abdomen -- and into "that space in the back of the mouth that opens up when you yawn or burp." That creates a more powerful, resonant sound than the throat can project on its own. "How is it someone like Pavarotti can be heard over 80 instruments in an orchestra? It's the resonance," she said.

Assume the position: Good posture equals high volume, Samuelson said. You already know to stand up when you yell. But arm and shoulder position can make you louder as well. "If your arms go up and elbows out, your rib cage gets wider," which allows more air to escape, she said. When raising the arms, keep your shoulders low; raising them tenses the neck and narrows the air passageway. "The barrel-chested thing is really good," she said. Again: Think Pavarotti, not Joe Pesci.

Let 'em hear you in the huddle: The goal is not just to make it hard for Vikings players to audible or hear the snap count when they get to the line of scrimmage. It is to make it hard for them to hear the original play call. Start screaming as soon as they huddle.

Leave the artificial noisemakers at home: Some talk radio shows and Internet forums have urged fans to shake their keys or plastic bottles filled with coins to raise the decibel levels inside the Dome. Bad idea. First, the NFL bans it. Second, it's for amateurs and cheaters. Artificial noisemakers are the fan equivalent of a performance-enhancing drug: an unfair advantage for an inferior player. Take pride in the fact that we can blow the roof off the joint through sheer force of passion. We don't need no stinkin' noisemakers.

Shut up when we have the ball: This should be obvious, but time after time we're reminded that it's not. Drew likes it quiet. When the Saints are on offense, scream after the snap, not before.

Finish strong: The Saints have given us a magical season, culminating in an NFC Championship game that promises to be the most exciting sporting event in New Orleans history. No matter how this thing turns out, stay 'til the very end, and save your loudest ovation for last by showing the players how much we appreciate them as they walk off the field.

Monday R&R: If you've done your job, you're going to be froggy. "For recovery, drink lots of water," Samuelson said. "Tea and honey also help." But the best remedy for swollen vocal cords, she said, is one that is not recommended on Sunday: "Silence."