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Proper Vocalization. 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.
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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. • Ugly vampires wear extraordinarily yellow zippers. Tongue Twisters are AWESOME
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