1. { Proper Vocalization

2.  Projection: making your voice big and full so that it can travel to the very last row in the audience.  Stress/Inflection: The accent (not dialect) or stress you place on certain words to emphasize importance.  Volume: how loud or soft your voice is Vocalization Terms to Know

3.  Pitch: how high or low your voice is (soprano vs. bass, for you singers)  Rhythm: how fast or slow your voice is  Diction (aka Articulation/Enunciation): how clearly you pronounce words  Quality (aka Tone): The way your voice sounds (raspy, nasal, breathy, rich) More Terms to Know

4.  If I’ve told you ONCE, I’ve told you a THOUSAND times.  If I’ve TOLD you once, I’ve TOLD you a THOUSAND times.  If I’VE TOLD YOU once, I’VE TOLD YOU a thousand times. STRESS/INFLECTION MAKES A DIFFERENCE

5. PRACTICE SAFE PROJECTION

6.  Breathe from your diaphragm (a muscle just below your ribs that helps your lungs inflate to their fullest).  If you’re breathing from your diaphragm, your belly should pooch as you breathe in.  Shoulders SHOULD NOT MOVE up and down.  Lie on the floor and watch your stomach as you breathe. Good Breathing Habits

7.  If you’re nervous, every muscle in your body tenses… INCLUDING YOUR VOCAL CORDS. When your vocal cords are tense, they tear more easily.  Take deep breaths  Do neck/shoulder stretches  Bend at the waist, arms dangling, and slowly roll up Relax

8.  Sometimes, you just need to open your mouth wider and enunciate better!  If your mouth is nearly closed as you speak, your words run together, and your diction – and volume – are lost in your own head.  Practice reading children’s books and tongue twisters aloud. OPEN YOUR MOUTH

9.  If you’re head’s not UP, you’re STRANGLING your voice. Improve your sound by…  Making sure your body and head faces the audience, with your chest and shoulders open, not slouched/hunched.  Holding your head UP. IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE

10.  Projecting means you’re focusing your voice on a point much further than in the front of your face.  Try talking to different objects at different distances in a room.  If you feel your voice straining after a while, don’t push it! FOCUS ON YOUR VOICE

11.  For the next few weeks, practice humming in the morning as you get ready, or as you do homework.  Pay attention to where you feel the humming.  If you feel your lips tingle as you hum, you are humming from the RIGHT place.  If your lips do not tingle as you hum, you are humming from an incorrect place.  Try to make your speaking voice come from the same place as your humming voice. HUM

12. THINGS YOU NEED

13.  Don’t be monotone! Staying on one pitch for an entire monologue is BORING. Spice it up with flavorful pitches.  Differing levels of volume help your audience understand what you REALLY want to PUSH.  Differing rhythm can actually set a tone within a monologue (slow = pensive/sad; quick = excited/angry). Vocal Variation is GOOD

14.  Make a noted difference between letters like T’s and D’s, which tend to sound similar. On stage, if you do not differentiate between similar sounds, you may confuse your audience.  Carry over end consonants, so that your words don’t trail off. (“aroun- >dan_>daround”)  Make a conscious effort NOT to lose the end of your sentences. (John and Jenny went to the mark--- *too quiet to hear*) SPEAK CLEARLY

15.  They help get blood flowing to important facial muscles.  Ah-blah, alligator; blah-blah, anticipator  Beckoned Becky, boasted Bobby, believed babbling Brooke.  Can't David Eat Fish, Gail?  Honduras has horrible hamburgers.  In Jeffrey Kemp's last meeting, no one presentation remained solid.  Trust the tongue twisters to tickle that tongue. tongue twisterstongue twisters  Ugly vampires wear extraordinarily yellow zippers. Tongue Twisters are AWESOME

16.  Diction is done with the tip of the tongue and the teeth.  Alligators – Baboons – Cats – Dogs – Elephants – Fish  Buzz – Heat – Rope – Cold – Meal – Ant  Human – Linen – Resort – Finer – Rich More Diction Exercises