Dressing up in a costume on Halloween is great fun! Sometimes, a costume requires a vocal disguise as well. There are three basic ways that most people try to disguise their voice. They lower their voice or raise the pitch of their voice, or try an accent.
I recommend another method which is far more effective. For this technique, you have to change your mind. Here’s what I recommend:
1. Know your intention…what you want to sound like, a particular attitude you want to convey, or an emotion. Study your character and imagine what it feels like to be them.
2. Align that with your content, which is what you want to say. Perhaps your character has some signature phrases that he/she uses. Learn them. You actually don’t need to say much. You can give an impression of your character with only a word or two.
4. Speak, keeping these two things in mind. It’s even better when you can hear your character speak in your mind as you speak out loud. This approach is an oversimplification of the Stanislavsky method of acting.
Finally, make sure that you keep your vocal health in mind when you disguise your voice. Never speak too low or too high. Rest your voice if you feel it getting tired. And remember that too much candy just isn’t good for you!
For some great ideas on Halloween costumes that may also give you some fodder for vocal disguises, please click here.
I was rehearsing a client who had a keynote speech to deliver at a conference. It had been a long day of meetings, and his speech was the next morning. We had just grabbed a bite to eat backstage, and were about to do a final run-through at 10PM. The problem was that his voice was just about gone from so much talking. What to do? He needed the time on stage and running through the talk because he had not had a minute to think about it all day. The stakes were high for this to be a great presentation. I looked at our drinks and suddenly remembered a great way to get his voice feeling much better so that he could still do the run-through and have a better chance of being ok in the morning. All I needed was a straw.
This is an exercise that I saw on YouTube. It was created by Ingo Titze, a prominent vocal scientist, and Executive Director of the National Center for Voice and Speech at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He’s the one you see on the video.
More techniques to revive a tired voice when you must keep talking:
Hydrate your voice., when you are tired, drinking water may revive you in general. Drink water.
Drink warm liquids. They will soothe your throat and promote blood flow to the larynx, while also hydrating you.
Keep the weight out of your voice. To do this, you will need to work with the pitch of your voice. You may need to speak a little higher than you are used to speaking. Raise the pitch of your voice a little until you feel that it “takes the pressure” off your voice; it will feel just a little easier to talk. And put some energy into your voice by using more air.
Of course, the best thing you can do for your voice is to rest when it feels tired. Take a break. Speak to no one. Drink some tea. Contemplate your intention for awhile.
…what you want to sound like, a particular attitude you want to convey, or an emotion. Study your character and imagine what it feels like to be them.
