Your Voice is your weapon.

1. Your Voice is your weapon. Use it wisely.

2. Vocal Warm-Up • Why warm up your voice? • It’s like stretching your legs before exercising. • It will be stronger and will last for longer periods of time. • What else is important to practice? • Voice inflection • Volume • Annunciating

3. Breathing • Breathing correctly can strengthen your voice and diaphragm. • It increases volume and allows you to project. • It helps you speak for longer periods of time.

4. Breathing Tips • If you feel your abdomen muscles contract or throat tightening, you need to practice using shorter breath spans. • Proper posture and alignment is crucial to maximizing your breathing. • You can monitor your breathing by placing one hand above your belly button and the other hand below. The breath, NOT THE HAND, should be moving your body.

5. Exhale and Inhale • Exhale all of the air from your lungs. • Push it out even when it might feel like it’s totally expelled. • When no more can be forced out, you will automatically inhale. • Inhale deeply. • The air rushes in. • Only a deep, full inhalation will satisfy your hunger for air. • This is what a real breath feels like.

6. Breathing • Exhale comfortably, then take a moderately filling breath. • Hold for 15 seconds, then exhale quietly. • Repeat. • Each day increase holding time until you can hold your breath for a full minute. This strengthens your diaphragm muscles.

7. Diaphragm • Stand straight, inhale with 5 quick, short gasps through an open mouth. (You can’t do it without using your diaphragm.) • Exhale in 5 quick gasps or puffs • Now try through your nose, with mouth closed.

8. Laughing • Doctors say laughing is good for you • It strengthens your diaphragm muscles • Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. • Laugh heartily with a big HA, HA, HA. • Laugh until you have exhaled all of the air from your lungs. • Quickly inhale deeply.

9. Laughing • Close your lips • Laugh soundlessly through your nose. • Laughing silently promotes better breath control.

10. Demonstration • Lie on your back • Relax each part of your body, and concentrate on your diaphragm. • Inhale. • Exhale fully, and flatten your abdomen as much as possible. • Practice this at home.

11. Getting Physical • Stand and bend over as if you touch your toes, but just hang limply • Remain in this position for a full minute, and then straighten up. • Pay attention to when you exhale your breath – It should naturally expel when you bend at the waist.

12. Getting physical • Still standing, place your hands on your hips, tilt your head back so you’re looking at the ceiling, and yawn. • Pay attention to how your waist expands as the diaphragm flattens and draws in air. • Exhale, and say “ah” as long as possible without discomfort.

13. Still standing • Why is it important to practice standing up? • Speak in sync with your breath. • Take a breath at each comma • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 • 1 2, 3 4, 5 6, 7 8, 9 10 • 1 2 3 4 5, 6 7 8 9 10 • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

14. Pauses • Why add pauses while speaking? • Allows you to catch your breath. • They’re natural. • Increases audience comprehension. • Some sentences have long sequences and may contain too many words to be read aloud comfortably in one breath. • Break it down into smaller sections and write in some punctuation marts to indicate where to pause. • A common code for pauses is the double dash (//)

15. When do I add pauses? • Use pauses after phrases that begin with prepositions and adverbs. • By the end of the class period, // Stacey had fallen asleep at her desk. • Despite all of John’s efforts, // the team still lost the game. • Even if the students liked the fund raising project, // it needed to be approved by the teacher.

16. When do I add pauses? • Use pauses when running down a list of items – it’s a good idea to add a short pause after each item in a series. • We need scissors, // tape, // cardboard, // paints, // brushes, // water, // and rags to make these drawings. • Before you can go out to play, you need to do your homework, // clean your bedroom, // and take out the trash.

17. When do I add pauses? • Use pauses before connecting words such as “but,” “or,” “and,” “because,” “however,” and so on. • Stephanie is a good student, // but she does like to talk in class. • It’s snowing outside, // so I want you to wear your boots.

18. Read aloud – Round 1 • Without pauses: • “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can not fool all the people all the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

19. Read aloud – Round 2 • With pauses: • “You can fool all the people some of the time, // and some of the people all of the time, // but you can not fool all the people all the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

20. Read aloud – Round 1 • “And the Grinch with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow stood puzzling and puzzling how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas he thought doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss

21. Read aloud – Round 2 • “And the Grinch, // with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, // stood puzzling // and puzzling, // how could it be so? // It came without ribbons. // It came without tags. // It came without packages, // boxes, or bags. // And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. // Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. // What if Christmas, // he thought, // doesn’t // come from a store. // What if Christmas, // perhaps, // means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss http://youtu.be/p8J-YmVs1j0 (30 seconds)

22. Monologue Project • Add marks for: • Pausing • Volume changes • Pace changes