How To Reduce Mouth Noises When Recording Voiceover
You’ve just finished recording what feels like your best take yet: smooth delivery, perfect timing, the right tone. Then you listen back. Click. Pop. Smack. All you hear are mouth noises.
If you’ve ever felt that sinking frustration, you’re in good company. Every voice actor deals with it (including me!), but not everyone knows how to fix it without over-editing. Learning how to remove mouth sounds from audio is a skill that will set your work above the competition, and in this article, I’m going to teach you how.
What Are Mouth Noises?
If you’ve ever listened back to a voiceover recording and heard clicks, pops, or little smacks between words, you’ve heard mouth noises. They happen when saliva, tongue, and lips create extra sounds your microphone picks up with precision.
In everyday conversation, you probably don’t notice them. But in a recording, they are very distracting. A single lip smack can pull a listener’s attention away from your message and make your audio sound less polished.
Mouth noises aren’t necessarily a sign of bad technique (we all do them); they’re part of being human. With a bit of awareness and the right strategies, you can minimize these sounds before you ever hit record.
5 Tips To Reduce Mouth Noises in Your Audio
Preventing mouth noises starts before you hit record. Small habits and adjustments make a big difference in the sound quality of your audio. These five tips are practical ways I minimize mouth noises in my own recordings.
Tip #1: Create Intentional Hydration and Vocal Health Habits
Drink water throughout the day, including before and during every session. Skip caffeine and alcohol since they dry out your mouth. Consider adding a humidifier to your booth to keep the air moist and your voice recording-ready.
Tip #2: Prep With Smart Pre-Session Diet and Oral Hygiene
Avoid dairy and heavy foods that coat your mouth. Choose crisp produce like apples to stimulate saliva and keep things fresh. Always brush and rinse before you record, so no particles interfere with a clean take. Adding a bit of citrus to your water can also help with clicks and pops.
Tip #3: Adjust Mic Placement and Technique
This might sound weird, but don’t aim your mouth directly at the mic. Angle yourself slightly off-axis to reduce saliva pops. Set your gain and distance carefully so you capture a clear voice without magnifying every unwanted sound.
Tip #4: Warm Up Your Mouth and Practice Breathing Techniques
Loosen your lips, tongue, and jaw with articulation exercises. Something that really helps me is to practice deep breathing to control airflow and support a smooth delivery. This prep keeps your voice steady and your mouth movements cleaner.
Tip #5: Maintain Mindful Posture
It’s normal to slouch, especially if you work at a desk or scroll your phone a lot (guilty!) Sit upright so your mouth and jaw work at their best. Stay tuned in to your body while recording. The more you notice your habits in real time, the faster you adjust and reduce unwanted noise.
The Art of Editing
Even with the best habits, some mouth noises are bound to slip through. With thoughtful editing, your recordings will be polished and professional. Good news, though! You can edit them naturally to prevent overediting.
How Much Editing Is Too Much?
Capture the cleanest take possible during recording. Rely on editing as a support tool, not a crutch. When you over-edit, you strip out the natural rhythm and texture of your performance. Listeners don’t want perfection (especially in a world where everything sounds increasingly like AI), they want authenticity.
What Should You Listen For?
As you edit, focus on noises that distract from the message: clicks, pops, smacks, and harsh breaths. Leave in the subtle sounds that make you sound human. The goal isn’t sterile audio, it’s audio that feels real, clear, and professional.
Editing Tools
When mouth noises slip through, the right audio editing tools make cleanup easier. I focus on trusted plugins that deliver professional results without stripping away the natural quality of your performance.
The Plugins I Use Every Day
These tools live in my DAW, and I rely on them for nearly every session:
iZotope RX 11 Mouth De-click: Targets clicks and smacks cleanly, leaving the voice untouched.
iZotope RX 11 De-ess: Smooths out harsh sibilance without dulling articulation.
iZotope RX 11 Voice De-noise: Reduces unwanted background hiss or booth noise while keeping the vocal tone natural.
I first used these with Audacity, and now I run them in Adobe Audition. They save time, keep my tracks sounding clean, and help me deliver audio files that are ready for clients.
Manual Editing in DAW
I’ve found that sometimes the best solution is a hands-on edit. Zoom in on your waveform to isolate and cut unwanted clicks by hand. Use spectral tools that allow precise editing in software like Adobe Audition for even finer control.
Manual editing takes more time, but it gives you precision and helps you learn how your mouth noises show up visually as well as audibly. It’s great ear-training that will help you become a better VO.
What Mouth Noises Are Ok?
When analyzing what mouth noises are acceptable in voice-over, you have to think back to your goals. Voiceover is about creating a connection, communicating a story, and evoking emotions in the listener to prompt them to act, think, or engage.
Strive for Clean, Not Sterile
Your job isn’t to scrub every tiny imperfection out of your track (that would be impossible!) Chasing total silence risks making your performance sound lifeless. Clean accuracy matters more than flawless sterility.
Focus on the Listener’s Experience
As you review your audio, ask: “Does this noise distract from the message?” If the answer is no, leave it in. Small mouth sounds and even occasional subtle breaths, depending on genre, can help your voice feel real, grounded, and human.
Remove Mouth Sounds From Audio: FAQ
How to remove mouth noise from audio?
Remove mouth noise from audio by combining prevention and editing. Hydrate all day, avoid foods that create buildup, and use proper mic technique. For cleanup, use audio editing tools like iZotope RX plugins and follow those tools with a manual edit with your DAW of any remaining clicks.
How to remove breath sounds from audio?
Two Important considerations for breath removal:
Know which genres of VO typically remove breaths, such as commercial VO, and which usually request to leave them in, like audiobooks.
If you are removing breaths, be sure to understand your room tone/noise floor and learn how to run an appropriate noise reduction in your DAW. Otherwise, breath removal can become an obvious distraction from your message.
What plug-in gets rid of mouth noises?
My preferred audio editing tool for removing mouth noises is iZotope RX Mouth De-click because it targets clicks and pops without damaging the vocal tone. Other popular tools include Waves X-Click, Sonnox Oxford DeClicker, and Oeksound Spiff.
Connect With Me! Hi, I’m Lauren Bandman Voiceover
I’m a professional voice actor who knows what it takes to deliver clean, clear, and authentic audio that clients can trust. If you’re a fellow voice actor looking to sharpen your craft, or a creative team searching for the right voice to bring your project to life, I’d love to connect. From corporate narration to medical voiceover and beyond, I bring both artistry and precision to every recording. Let’s start a conversation.
