Does not talking really help you sing?

Answer 1

No. No, no,no,no,no. Now, with that said, I'd like to qualify my "no's" a little bit by saying this: People's voices are a mess. They are the sum total of all the screaming, smoking, drinking, talking, whispering, coughing and everything else that you've ever done in your life. And some of those hard drinking, screaming, smoking messes are some of the most interesting and amazing singers you'll ever hear. So then the question becomes, "What do you want to do with your voice"? Not talking may work for Celine Dion, but I don't really want to sound like Celine Dion. Those people who use silence as a part of their singing routine are generally abusing the hell out of their voices on stage in a very operatic or dramatic (Celine, anyone?) way and are using that down time to allow their voices to rest. For the other 99.999998% percent of us who are singers, talking is part of the game. The key here is to limit the amount of detrimental and abusive things you are doing to your voice (the biggest one here is dehydration... stay away from coffee,soda, and energy drinks!) and try to maximize behaviors that won't tire your voice out. A great "self-check" that I use all the time is to lightly hold my throat while I'm talking or singing to see if my throat is tense - if it is, it's a sign that you aren't doing something right. If you are allowing the air coming up through your lungs to do the work, then your throat should always be nice and soft and relaxed. You should be able to move it side to side with very little effort - and if it feels very rigid and tube-like, then you are singing from the wrong place. I could go on about the diaphragm thing and all the other mechanics that are involved, but it comes down to that - if your throat is relaxed, then you aren't messing your voice up.
So, to come back to the original question - Silence will never, ever make you a better singer. Proper practice and listening skills will.