Athletes have pre-game rituals, and so do performers. While the former stretch, the latter conducts vocal warm-ups, projecting exercises, and diction practices to ensure they can deliver expressive singing and speaking on stage.
From the much-loved lip trills to the oh-so-necessary breathing exercises, James Snyder explains that singers and actors have countless techniques at their disposal to ensure their voices are tuned to perfection.
Vocal Warm-Ups
Warming up the voice does more than ready the vocal chords; it loosens the body and ensures performers are loose, relaxed, and ready to tackle the script or song.
There are tons of vocal warm-ups to try. The following three are the most popular for ensuring clear, impactful speech.
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are the number one way for relaxing the vocal folds before a performance, while also helping expand the voice’s range. Some of the best include:
- Straw trick — Many actors find putting a straw in their mouth and practicing humming or inhaling/exhaling allows them to focus completely on their breathing and keep their body and face static.
- Hissing exhale — This involves inhaling for any amount of time and producing an “sss” hissing noise on the exhale. For best results, professionals encourage people to change the amount of time they’re inhaling and hissing, aiming for as long as possible.
- Floor technique — Focusing on the breath becomes easier when lying on the floor and placing a hand on the abdomen.
Lip Trills
Lip trills (i.e., blowing raspberries or bubbling the lips) loosen the facial muscles, warming the vocal folds at the same time. Interestingly, they’re even more effective conducted in the shower, thanks to the steam. The YouTuber, Singgeek, provides a fantastic tutorial for doing the lip trill properly.
Descending on Nasal Consonants
Performers shouldn’t forget to warm up the nasal passages and sinuses too with this exercise.
Doing this is relatively easy. Singers can take the “gn” sound from “onion” and slide it using glissando style. Alternatively, they can recite any word ending in a “Z,” lingering on the “zzz” for resonance.
Projection Exercises
Voice projection (using the voice loudly, clearly, and powerfully) is vital for stage performers to keep the audience’s attention and ensure they hear every word clearly. A few ways to practice and improve projection are:
- Speaking in different environments — Switching up the environment (e.g., with ambient noise, on a large stage, etc.) helps performers use their voice appropriately for the space.
- Strengthening the core — A strong core is essential for voice support. Exercises like yoga and/or Pilates work well.
- Relaxed inhalations — Focus on allowing the breath to fill the lower belly and back gently, we often tense up our throats when breathing in with force. Think of a pane of glass on the front and back and you gently work to push each one away from your body while filling the lungs with air.
Diction Techniques
Running through tongue twisters is the best way to enhance diction (i.e., the enunciation and verbiages somebody uses). Any memorable ones will work wonders, such as:
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
- We surely shall see the sunshine soon.
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
- She sells seashells on the seashore.