Project your voice.
I remember acting in a first school nativity, playing Joseph and Mrs Jackson standing at the back of the school hall shouting, “you must project your voice darling!”
And this is true for everyone; I bet that most of you have done a production or public speech of some sort and during rehearsal had an on-looker heckling after every line you speak, the fat lady in the back row cant here you?
Well yes, they have a point- the actor must be heard. However these days’ most modern vocal practitioners will not declare, “you must project your voice!” Rather they will say, “You must be aware of the space around you.” The problem with people thinking they must project their voice is that it often leads to one shouting and straining of the vocal chords, which later leads to an actor loosing their voice or even worse damaging it permanently.
This is why it is so vital for an actor to discover for them selves how carry their own voice without having to force it.
As an actor you must be aware that the breath and the way we control our voice is using muscle, The diaphragm and vocal chords, and as any other muscle in the body can be trained and strengthened.
Vocal warm up techniques can be found in this section of theactingwebsite Voice Training.
Going back to the phrase most vocal practitioners say, “You must be aware of the space around you.” When I trained with the National Youth Theatre I had the pleasure to work with the most amazing vocal coach, she walked in looking rather like a very stereotypical “Plump Mad Grandmother” in, what can only be described as a vast array of multi coloured rags wrapped around her chest, for which the whole room brightened as a result! Any way… this inspirational woman taught me “how to be aware of the space around me” and she did it in such a way…
As you are sitting now at you computer, don’t look away from the screen. But be aware of the room/ environment that you are in. and imagine you are measuring from you mouth; be aware of how far away is the screen away from you. Without moving your head become aware of all the corners of the room and once again how far away from you they are. Start to fill in objects, the book on your desk, a chair between you and the far corner of the room, maybe a family pet or another person is also in the room- be aware of all there movements and with out looking round create a 3D image of everything around you.
This I where we start to use our voice. I want you now to start to hum doesn’t matter what pitch or tone. Firstly I want you to hum at the computer screen or the page you are reading this article from, at a volume as if you were talking to the object. Now move to another closer object for example the keyboard once again humming at a volume, which you would if you were talking to that object. Now look at a corner of the room and do the same- really focus on that corner and hum as if you really wanted that corner of the room to hear what you are humming- but not excessively loud. Now try a different corner or another object.
When you are confident with the volume you are projecting your voice at now try experimenting with attaching an emotion to your “hum” for example ‘Love,’ ‘Hate’ or maybe Fear, genuinely try and feel that emotion when you hum, maybe the tone, pitch of your voice will change or you may find your self humming a tune- but only do what feels “Right in the moment” (with all aspects of acting you must remember never to force any thing out just for the sake of it.) I recall doing this exercise I spent about 10-15 minutes humming to a piano stool and by the end of it I genuinely did fall falling in love with it and I have no doubt in my mind if I hadn’t been brought back into reality I would have been pushing it down the isle in 3 months time!
When you feel you have become confident with both the volume and emotion when humming if you haven’t all ready, try using them both together- does your volume increase/ decrease with a different emotion? However you must still keep aware with how close of far the object is away from you. Don’t over do it – a common mistake which actors is vital when wanting integrity within a character- and yes it applies to Panto too!
Now you have mastered that try changing the “hum” to a word “SHOCK, HORROR!” for example “hello” but say the word as if you were humming it- this is a very simple way to start using the breath correctly when speaking. Try speaking this word with different emotions just as the humming. Develop the one word into a phrase and then into your speech/ dialogue for a play/ presentation- using a monologue for example tell that monologue to your Mouse mat, then to a painting on the wall staying in the same position.
Doing this will help when on stage or performing as it will aid you to Project your voice correctly. For example if you are doing a full blown west end play imagine you are talking to the man right at the back of the auditorium or in contrast a small studio space- you see where I am coming from if you use the same “projection” you will loose the integrity of your speech never mind blow the poor blokes ear drums to shreds!
Once again I can not stress how vital it is for you to learn how to use you voice correctly do not strain the muscle other wise you wont be able to speak and…well not much point being an actor really?! This is why we start this exercise of humming to warm your vocal chords up first. Nb. Please make sure to drink plenty of water when vocal training or during a performance
Vocal warm up techniques can be found in this section of theactingwebsite Voice Training.
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