Vocal Warm Ups

Earn a standing ovation

Poor enunciation and projection renders otherwise good communication ineffective. When you speak, you want to be heard, literally. If you speak softly or do not enunciate clearly, your audience may not hear your message.

When you enunciate, each word and syllable is given its due. Words are distinct from each other and you want your audience to easily distinguish between similar-sounding words.

Projection carries your voice to the audience. If the sound never arrives, the audience won't hear your message.

The exercises below will help you strengthen your enunciation and projection. Practice them daily. Daily exercises will warm the vocal cords and develop the muscles in and around the diaphragm without causing undue strain. Then, a few minutes before your next speech or presentation, repeat the exercises to warm up your voice and stretch your mouth. It can make an amazing difference. Those short minutes can yield you the reward all actors strive for: a standing ovation.

To improve your enunciation

Stretch your mouth. Open wide, yawn and relax, as though you were saying "Ah" at the doctor's office. Then stretch your mouth sideways by smiling wide, as though you were saying "Cheese" for the camera. Alternate top-to-bottom and side-to-side mouth stretches a couple of times. It feels a little silly, but it prepares your mouth to open a little wider as you speak, and that improves your delivery.

To improve your clarity

Practice tongue twisters. Tongue twisters help with enunciation and clarity of speech, so you don't stumble over your words when making an important point. "She sells sea shells by the sea shore" works well, but here are a few others:

• Red leather, yellow leather, black blood, blue blood
• Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously. For Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, as Moses supposes his toeses to be

Remember the purpose is not to say the tongue twister as fast as you can, but to say it as clearly as you can. Tongue twisters are designed to be difficult to say, so even saying one at normal speed will let you know you're enunciating clearly.

To improve your vocal projection

Practice speaking from your diaphragm. The key lies in fully breathing into your diaphragm. Breath powers the voice. To breathe fully, allow a breath to come deep into your belly. Speaking from this deeper place in your body gives your voice stronger resonance and volume and gives power to the words as you speak them.

Practice proper breathing. Find the little triangle of soft space between your ribs and place your palm flat on that spot. Then say "Hah!" If your hand doesn't move, you're not speaking from your diaphragm and your voice is coming out in a thin ribbon of sound instead of a powerful, room-filling projection. Try it again. If you're speaking from your diaphragm effectively, your hand should actually jump up a little bit from your midsection as you say "Hah!"

Practice projecting your voice. Now that you've found your diaphragm, practice projecting your voice. Find a wall that's about three feet away. Say the first sentence of your speech. Push your words out so they hit that wall. Remember your goal is not to shout. Your goal is to give each word weight and strength so that your message will stick in your listener's mind. Speak clearly, distinctly, and with strength, but don't yell. You don't want to be remembered for that!