Voiceover Exercises
Breathing
Exercises
1. Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose.
Exhale slowly through the mouth. Repeat.
2.
Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose. Exhale slowly making the sound
"ahhhh". USE YOUR DIAPHRAGM
3.
Inhale deeply. Exhale in short explosive bursts (huh! huh! huh! huh!).
4.
Inhale slowly and count aloud clearly enunciating each number until you
run out of breath. This is also a good warm-up exercise for your
articulators.
5.
Read the following sentence as many times as you can on one breath. This
sentence is filled with words that use air.
He hid at home and sobbed when his sister
seized
whatever he had on top in the thin five-shelved closet.
6. Take a deep breath and
see how far you can read through this grouping of words. Make sure you are
making each of the words come alive as you say them. Don't just race
through them -- interpret!
|
Collecting and
projecting,
receding and speeding
and shocking and rocking
and darting and parting
and treading and spreading
and whizzing and hissing
and dripping and skipping
and hitting and splitting
and shining and twining |
and rattling and
battling
and shaking and quaking
and pouring and roaring
and waving and raving
and flowing and going
and heaving and cleaving
and foaming and roaming
and moaning and groaning
and dropping and hopping |
Articulation
Exercises to overcome “Immovable Jaw”, “Idle
Tongue”, “Lazy Lips”, and “Too Much Speed”.
LIMBERING UP
-
Spread
the lips in a smile for “eeeee”, open them for “aaahh”, and close them
for “ooooo”. Repeat.
-
Rapidly
say “fud-dud-dud-dah” several times. Now say
“ira-ira-ira-ira-ira-ira”.
-
Make
believe you are a truck. Trill your tongue. Be a rattlesnake
TONGUE
Say each of the following
words 5 times, trying to keep the tongue forward, just behind the upper
front teeth. Listen for brightness and liveliness of tone.
|
Tea |
Deal |
|
Tick |
Dish |
|
Tail |
Thick |
|
Nape |
Table |
LIPS
A stiff upper lip is one
cause of miss-articulation. Say the words �pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat� many
times. Try to pronounce the “P’s” and “T’s” very clearly. Now try to
pick up the speed. DON’T LOOSE THE “P” AND THE “T”.
JAW OPENING EXERCISES
Say the following words
while exaggerating your jaw opening.
|
Hack |
Yacht |
Dot |
|
Paw |
Yard |
Dart |
|
Tab |
Tot |
Dark |
|
Hah |
Tat |
Lad |
MORE LOOSENING UP
EXERCISES
Repeat each of the following
word groupings clearly over and over. Start slowly at first. As your
articulators become more nimble and relaxed you will be able to pick up
speed without stumbling. Do any sort of tongue twister that comes to
mind. The more you loosen up before a session, the easier it will be.
Good Blood, Bad Blood
Bad Blood, Good Blood
Red Leather, Yellow Leather
Buttah, Guttah Guttah,
Buttah
The Leith Police
Dismisseth Us
(see below for entire tongue twister)
Inflectional Changes
Record the
following exercises and then listen critically to see if you can hear
the difference in the way you interpreted the meaning of the words.
Say the word “YES” to
indicate:
-
Certainty
-
Doubt
-
Indecision
-
Sarcasm
Say the
word “NO” and, by changes of inflection, indicate the following:
-
Definitely not.
-
Well, maybe.
-
I’m surprised to learn
that.
-
I’m annoyed to learn
that.
-
I’m pleased and
surprised to learn that.
Say the
sentence "I’ll be there.” so that the following attitudes are implied:
-
Determination
-
Pleasant agreement
-
Surprise
-
Annoyance
Say the
sentence “I like Bill.” to bring out the following:
-
A direct
statement of fact. You mean literally what the words say.
-
A
contradiction of the literal meaning of the words. You definitely do
not like Bill.
-
Irritation and surprise that anyone could conceivably accuse you of
liking Bill.
-
Indecision as to your feelings about Bill.
-
Specific
indication that your liking is for Bill and not for anyone else who
may be present.
-
Your
answer to the question “Who likes Bill?”
-
An
aggressive and emphatic answer to the question “Who could possibly
care for a man like Bill?”
Tongue
Twisters
Many of these tongue twisters are familiar.
Some came from the “Speech 101, Voice and Diction Class at San Diego City
College. Some are from Beverly
Bremers Voiceover Workouts. Others are from actual scripts. Some are
familiar. Some seem simple. Some will be the bane of your existence. Just
remember to
warm up your articulators before jumping in on them!
Rubber baby buggy bumpers
She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells,
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
Five fresh fish specials daily
Unique New York
Six stick shifts stuck shut.
Another long block of non-stop rock
The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit;
and on the slitted sheet I sit.
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump
stunk,
but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
A Tudor who tooted a flute
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to their tutor,
Is it harder to toot –
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?
I’m not the pheasant plucker,
I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate.
I am only plucking pheasants
‘cause the pheasant plucker’s running late.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled
peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter
Piper picked?
The Leith police dismisseth us
They thought we sought to stay;
The Leith police dismisseth us
They thought we'd stay all day.
The Leith police dismisseth us,
We both sighed sighs apiece;
And the sighs that we sighed as we said goodbye
Were the size of the Leith police.
(Thanks to Viv in Winchester England for the correct rhyme)
PO
Box 161018
San Diego CA
92176
619-280-0420 Voice ----- 619-280-2598 FAX
Email Connie for a custom demo |
