1. Voice and Diction
Chapter 3

2. Focus Questions What are the keys to a good speaking voice?
Why is breath control so important?
How can you develop a rich, strong, and interesting stage voice?

3. The Importance of Voice
Expressive voice and clear, correct speech:
Indispensible tools for the actor
Assets in almost everyone’s life
Personnel directors list them among qualities needed for any position that requires working with others.

4. Developing an Effective Voice
Body Relaxation
Proper Breathing
Good Posture
A poised, self-confident, and healthy voice has a pleasing affect on the listener.

5. Where does the sound come from?
Voice is produced by air from lungs passing over vocal folds, which are thin curtains of muscles with delicate edges
These folds set up vibrations, or waves
Vibrations become sounds and are aplified when they strike the resonating chambers of the throat, head, nose, and mouth
Sounds are determined by shape of the chambers
Shape of chambers are determined by position of tongue, soft palate, lips, and lower jaw.

6. Correct Speech Have an open, relaxed throat Flexible tongue and lips
Relaxed lower jaw
Practice deep central breathing
For actors, exercising voice is as important as exercising and conditioning the body.
Poor vocal habits can be eliminated within a short period of time with regular exercise and deliberate concentration

7. The Vocal Tract

8. Vocabulary Quality Schwa Resonance Voiceless Nasality Voiced Pitch
Pronunciation
Inflection
Monotone
Volume
Rate
Diction

9. Relaxation
Tense/tight throat can cause hoarseness when projecting in performance
The degree of relaxation determines the carrying power of vowel sounds
Proper vowel sounds are the key to a powerful and beautiful voice
They are made with an open, relaxed throat, a relaxed jaw and flexible lips
This is why relaxation (mental AND physical) is a key to voice

10. Warm Up Stretching is an effective means to relaxation
Stretch whole body like an animal after a nap(think of a cat with an arched back)
Visualization is also an effective means to relaxation
Imagine a warm, relaxing shower falling over your head wiping out frown lines…

11. Jaw Relaxation Let your head fall forward onto your chest
Lift it up and back, letting your jaw remain loose
Drop it again and slowly roll your head over your right shoulder, back, over your left shoulder, and forward
Drop your head forward again
Place your hads lightly on your cheeks and lift your head with your hands, keeping the jaw relaxed and being careful to avoid using the jaw muscles.
When your head is lifted, the jaw should hang open
Make your face as expressionless as possible

12. Improving Diction
Diction: the selection and pronunciation of words and their combination in speech
Effective speech requires carefully chosen words that are uttered distinctly.
Ear training is almost as important as speech training.
Recording and analyzing your speech and the speech of others in a variety of situations can be helpful.

13. Vowel Sounds
All pass unobstructed through the mouth, but the position of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate differ for each vowel sound.
Vowel sound classifications: front, middle, back (based on the position of the tongue)
Important to distinguish between sound and letter
6 vowel letters in the English alphabet
Many more sounds

14. Vowel Sounds, cont. A = father, cat, came
Vowel sounds in unstressed syllables are often pronounced with a soft “uh” – schwa
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) created to represent sounds in all languages
Knowing the IPA can be a great help to actors working with dialects
Refer to the chart on page 85 of textbook

15. Video Instruction International Phonetic Alphabet
Vowel Sounds in the Standard American Accent