{"id":4680,"date":"2017-09-21T15:57:19","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T15:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=4680"},"modified":"2017-10-02T20:18:35","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T20:18:35","slug":"9-useful-diction-exercises-for-every-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/9-useful-diction-exercises-for-every-actor\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Useful Diction Exercises for Every Actor"},"content":{"rendered":"

9 Useful Diction Exercises for Every Actor<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by\u00a0Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n

September 21, 2017<\/p>\n<\/font>

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It\u2019s a process every actor must go through before stepping onstage \u00a0\u2014 warm-ups. Diction exercises and vocal exercises<\/strong><\/span><\/a> are essential for making sure that you\u2019re understood while you\u2019re performing. Sure, \u201cred leather, yellow leather\u201d and \u201ctoy boat\u201d are crowd favorites and standbys, but sometimes you\u2019ve gotta dig a little deeper. Below, we\u2019ve listed some fun and effective diction exercises you can try with your cast or by yourself before every rehearsal and performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

(NOTE: Diction exercises are especially essential when you\u2019re performing a classical piece such as any Greek or Roman, Moliere, or Shakespearean play because the language style they use is vastly different from how we speak today. Use the exercises below to prepare!)<\/span><\/p>\n

1. “Biscuits”<\/h4>\n

A box of biscuits,
\n<\/span>A box of mixed biscuits,
\n<\/span>And a biscuit mixer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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2. \u201cMy Dame\u201d<\/h4>\n

My dame hath a lame tame crane.
\n<\/span>My dame hath a crane that is lame.
\n<\/span>Oh gentle Jane, doth my dame’s lame tame crane
\n<\/span>Leave and come home again?<\/span><\/p>\n

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3. \u201dWeather\u201d<\/h4>\n

Whether the weather be cold,
\n<\/span>Or whether the weather be hot,
\n<\/span>Whatever the weather, we’ll weather the weather,
\n<\/span>Whether we like it or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

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4. From Gilbert and Sullivan’s\u00a0The Mikado –<\/i>\u00a0\u201cI Am So Proud\u201d<\/h4>\n

To sit in solemn silence in a dull dark dock
\n<\/span>In a pestilential prison with a life long lock
\n<\/span>Awaiting the sensation of a short sharp shock
\n<\/span>From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block<\/span><\/p>\n

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5. \u201dA Minute or Two to Two\u201d<\/h4>\n

What a to-do to die today, at a minute or two to two;
\n<\/span>A thing distinctly hard to say, but harder still to do.
\n<\/span>For they’ll beat a tattoo, at twenty to two,
\n<\/span>A rat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tattoo.
\n<\/span>And a dragon will come when he hears the drum,
\n<\/span>At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.<\/span><\/p>\n

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6. Unvoiced and voiced consonants<\/h4>\n

Unvoiced
\n<\/strong>Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pah
\n<\/span>Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Paw
\n<\/span>Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Poo
\n<\/span>Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pee
\n<\/span>Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pay<\/span><\/p>\n

Voiced<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bah
\n<\/span>Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Baw
\n<\/span>Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Boo
\n<\/span>Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bee
\n<\/span>Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bay<\/span><\/p>\n

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7. \u201dGrip-Top Sock\u201d<\/h4>\n

Give me the gift of a grip-top sock,
\n<\/span>A clip drape shipshape tip top sock.
\n<\/span>Not your spinslick slapstick slipshod stock,
\n<\/span>But a plastic, elastic grip-top sock.
\n<\/span>None of your fantastic slack swap slop
\n<\/span>From a slap dash flash cash haberdash shop.
\n<\/span>Not a knick knack knitlock knockneed knickerbocker sock
\n<\/span>With a mock-shot blob-mottled trick-ticker top clock.
\n<\/span>Not a supersheet seersucker rucksack sock,
\n<\/span>Not a spot-speckled frog-freckled cheap sheik’s sock
\n<\/span>Off a hodge-podge moss-blotched scotch-botched block.
\n<\/span>Nothing slipshod drip drop flip flop or glip glop
\n<\/span>Tip me to a tip top grip top sock. <\/span><\/p>\n

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8. Radio Announcer\u2019s Test #1 (\u201cPenelope Cholmondely\u201d)<\/h4>\n

Penelope Cholmondely raised her azure eyes from the crabbed scenario. She meandered among the congeries of her memoirs. There was the Kinetic Algernon, a choleric artificer of icons and triptychs, who wanted to write a trilogy. For years she had stifled her risibilities with dour moods. His asthma caused him to sough like the zephyrs among the tamarack.<\/span><\/p>\n

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9. Radio Announcer\u2019s Test #2 (\u201cOne Hen\u201d)<\/h4>\n

One hen
\n<\/span>Two ducks
\n<\/span>Three squawking geese
\n<\/span>Four Limerick oysters
\n<\/span>Five corpulent porpoises
\n<\/span>Six pair of Don Alverzo’s tweezers
\n<\/span>Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
\n<\/span>Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
\n<\/span>Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates, with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
\n<\/span>Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who stalk about the corners of the cove all at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

FUN FACT:<\/b> Radio announcer\u2019s tests were created in the 1920s as a way to gauge the vocal skill of a prospective radio announcer. They involve retention, memory, repetition, enunciation, diction, and using every letter in the alphabet.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Need some advice? We\u2019ve got you covered.<\/h3>\n