3 Vocal Exercises to Train Your Acting Voice
Just as artists have their pens and musicians have their instruments, voice over actors have their voice as their most important tool. Vocal exercises help voice over actors stay in shape and build their skills. From warming up before a successful audition to learning new techniques to improve your recordings, these practices can have a positive effect on all parts of your career. Here are some of the top vocal exercises to train your acting voice.
Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters are a good exercise to improve articulation. Choose several tongue twisters and say them out loud, slowly, and focus on pronouncing each word clearly. Build up speed as you repeat them but keep your articulation in mind. By practicing quick yet clear articulation, you help your words sound more distinct, making yourself more understandable and easier to listen to in every role.
Yawn
One of the simplest vocal exercises to train your acting voice is to yawn. Yawning stretches the jaw and relaxes the mouth, vocal cords, and throat muscles. This opens up the throat, helping you regulate your breathing and open up your vocal range. You can also smile throughout the yawn to further stretch the muscles of your jaw. Vocalize as you yawn, moving from the top of your range to the lowest pitch you can manage. This helps you exercise your full vocal range.
Sight-Reading
Sight-reading isn’t just a skill for the audition room. Reading an unfamiliar text out loud is a good way to practice your voice over skills. An unfamiliar text allows you to focus less on the actual words and more on your breathing, speed, and pitch. You can challenge yourself further by repeating the text a few times, mixing up your delivery each time. Try reciting with different volumes, emotions, and accents. Sight-reading helps voice over actors exercise their skills while playing around with delivery styles they normally wouldn’t get to use.
Of course, a great way to train your voice is through voice over jobs. Internet Jock provides a place for male and female voice over actors of any genre to connect with potential clients. While you continue to improve your skills with these exercises, Internet Jock can connect you with other great people in the industry, helping you on your way to landing your dream role.