Hi CW,

During a state of anxiety, such as public speaking, the voice of anyone who is anxious tends to shake. Dryness in the throat is associated with anxiety and this can lead to some of the symptoms you describe. You'll often hear such people coughing to clear their throat and taking sips of water.

If your voice is like this all the time and it's a relatively new feature I would look for associations - most notably medication. Are you taking any medication for which dry mouth/throat is a side effect? This is quite a common side effect for a lot of medications, including in the summer months, treatment for hay fever.

If your voice only gets these symptoms at times of anxiety then this narrows it down somewhat. You can get some training in how to deal with this but basically it comes down to detaching yourself from the situation (imagining everyone in the room has no clothes on), relaxation and plenty of practice.

Hope at least one of these thoughts comes near to your own situation.