This is an issue of great currency for me. I have a strong voice (some would call it loud) and don't have a lot of trouble projecting, even without amplification. That's come from many years of singing, more than any training or conscious effort to control my breathing. I think all of the advice in here is great, though.

My situation these days is that for the last year, I've been doing a monthly gospel program in a nursing home, and it can be a real challenge at times. A few of the residents like to "sing along," which I don't want to discourage. Unfortunately one of the men has Downs Syndrome and doesn't sing any words, and he sings melodies in his own head, in a different key. He always sits in the fron row, too. Another man used to be a musician and really gets into the music. He's had a stroke which has left him unable to say any recognizable words, and he too sings his own internal melody. When the two of them really get into a song, it's a battle to sing louder than they do, without becoming so distracted that I forget words. I can handle it pretty well (must have been all those years of trying to sing louder than the hecklers,) but a friend has started to come with me to sing, and he dissassembles under the stress. He doesn't have a strong voice, and he is not comfortable performing in front of people (or even singing in our living room.) I've continued to encourage him to project more strongly, and perhaps I can use some of the suggestions in this thread to help him. He's not in a position to take voice lessons right no, and his life has really collapsed on his head, this lasty year. I tell him that this experience will really be good for him, if he doesn't get discouraged because he is being forced to learn how to project his voice more, and concentrate on the song and the message, rather than be completely distracted by the audience. I believe he will become a much better singer, and I already see some improvement.

Maybe that's another technique the voice instructors won't tell you about. Try singing while operating a jack hammer, busting up concrete.

Sometimes survival can be a good teacher.

Jerry