At the beginning of an EGG examination, two electrodes are placed symmetrically over the two thyroid cartilage wings. The impedance of the vibrating vocal folds is measured between the electrodes during phonation. This provides a so-called LX signal as measurement data, which indicates the horizontal opening and closing movement of the vocal folds. Modern devices also allow the voice to be recorded synchronously via a microphone so that the LX signal (vocal fold vibration) can also be compared directly with the vocal sound.

One advantage of electroglottography is the direct and non-invasive measurement of vocal fold movement. This means that a direct vocal fold signal can be measured without restricting phonation with measuring devices.