I’ve had a cold for several days, and now I have laryngitis so bad that I can’t speak at all.
Later today, I need to attend a meeting at work where it will be necessary for me to speak so that the business of the meeting can get accomplished.
Any advice? Ordinarily, I would call my doctor with medical questions, but I can’t do that for obvious reasons.
I know you don’t want to hear this…but the only sure fire cure for laryngitis is vocal rest.
I wish you hadn’t used the word “fire” in that reply because I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen if I can’t function adequately on the work assignment that’s coming up later today.
Do you have a vibrator handy? 
Gee, no. I never thought of bringing that sort of thing to work. 
LOL @Marian I just discovered the video last night and it actually helped my D feel some relaxation in her throat (she’s dealing with muscle tension dysphonia). There’s also an article with detailed descriptions of how to do it. I don’t know if it would help you with your issue.
Here are some other suggestions I have:
Folks…your larynx is in your trachea…not your esophagus. So things like cough drops, and gargling, are NOT going to get to the larynx at all. Not the same PIPE.
I will say, you may find some relief by taking a hot shower and inhaling the steam. But it will be temporary.
If you will be using a microphone, you should be able to get through your oresentatuon unless you are totally aphonoc (can’t make any sound…at all) which isn’t all that common.
If you do your presentation, and whisperer your way through it, with a microphone, you will get through it, but your laryngitis could actually worsen tomorrow.
In the meantime…today…no talking. Until the time for the presentation.
Anatomy 101. Good point @thumper1
Thank you all for your advice – and for the new vocabulary words!
I get Laryngitis more than I care to admit. The only thing that ever works for me is rest and inhaling steam (from tea, hot water, whatever).
Good luck.
Do not whisper. It is worse than talking. Vocal rest means FULL vocal rest.
And unemployment means FULL unemployment.
I have to do my job, despite having a trivial medical problem.
@Marian hope the presentation went well and your boss wasn’t a jerk about it. I’ve got the same cold and voice issue, and I’ve been hacking my way through class for the last couple of days. Can you put more words on the slides than you usually would and let the visuals carry you a bit?
Possibly too late for the OP, but I had a student once develop full-blown laryngitis the day before final research presentations in a graduate seminar—and the presentations were on the final exam date, so it couldn’t be postponed to the next class. She—all on her own, I wouldn’t have made her do this—worked up a script that she then fed into a text-to-speech module, and ran through her slides, pointing to the relevant bits of her charts and such, as the computer spoke for her. (And it was smooth—she had clearly practiced what she was going to point out when, or at the very least figured it out in detail as she wrote the script.)
She then took questions, and typed out her answers. (It helped that she was able to type at about 70wpm, give or take.)
It was actually pretty amazing. It helped that it was a solid piece of research, but the fact that she went through all that to be able to present it was impressive, including according to the peer review feedback I got from the others in the seminar.
What kind of idiot employer wouldn’t comprehend that laryngitis is a genuine impediment to participating in a meeting? Sounds like a job search is the first order of business after OP’s voice returns.
I used to get laryngitis with every cold. Can confirm the only cure is to shut up, no whispering or trying to talk on the phone, both of which are particularly harmful.
This thread reminded me of my senior year high school play. Just one performance (crappy high school), but months of rehearsals. I had a lead. Partial laryngitis hit the day before. During dress rehearsal the drama teacher kept telling me to speak from my diaphragm, which was meaningless. By the next morning I had no voice whatsoever. Script girl went on for me–luckily she had everyone’s lines memorized, and my costume fit her. I stayed home and wept all night, sobbing most loudly when the cast had flowers delivered to me, arriving at curtain time. Still makes me sad 47 years later!
@MommaJ, your story reminds me of something similar. A few years ago, the lead in our high school play also came down with laryngitis, but in his case, he went on, while the director spoke the actor’s lines through a microphone. Their acting was so excellent you quickly forgot that the young man acting on stage wasn’t actually the one saying the lines.
This makes me CRAZY. @Marian hope it went well…but if you had 103 fever and were throwing up every five minutes, would you even consider doing this presentation!
You are sick…you have an inflammation of your vocal folds.
You can probably do this presentation…but it’s not going to do that inflammation any good.
It’s very difficult to get people to take a vocal ailment as seriously as, say, a broken leg. We have been fighting that battle at school with my D. This vibrator thing though–it appears to be helping my D with her particular problem. She said today was the first time in a long time that her voice wasn’t worn out at the end of the school day!
“What kind of idiot employer wouldn’t comprehend that laryngitis is a genuine impediment to participating in a meeting? Sounds like a job search is the first order of business after OP’s voice returns.”
Amen. I hope that Marian wasn’t serious.
@Marian so…how did it go? And are you on full vocal rest now?