Public Speaking Warm-ups for Clara Deal’s chemistry class
Carrie Baker, Assistant Professor of Theatre
9/20/2006
Alignment

Stand up straight

Broad shoulders

Head floats on top of spinal column

Heavy tail bone, heavy shoulders

Feet shoulder width apart

Don’t lock your knees

Sometimes it helps to flop over your upper body (as if you are doing a full forward bend) and then build up your spine vertebrae by vertebrae as if you are stacking one block on top of the other, shoulders and head coming up last.
Projection

Make sure you are talking to the back of the room.

Practice by saying a few sentences and imagine that your vocal vibrations are hitting the back wall of the room. (Some people feel this more strongly if you imagine that you are painting the back wall of the room with your voice…just as an exercise for volume!)

BREATHE with your diaphragm! Your belly should round out when you inhale and flatten when you exhale…don’t breathe with your shoulders.

Think of your torso as being open and empty and the air comes in and swings your ribs out. Put your hands on your ribs to feel this rib swing…this amount of air will give your voice power!
**Relaxation can be a powerful preparation. Simply lying on the floor and release all of your muscles and let your body become heavy as if it is filled with sand.
ARTICULATION & RESONANCE WARM-UP
The more you warm up your articulators and find a sense of relaxation by stretching your body, the less you will bobble your words and the more power and variety you will have vocally. The following are some suggestions for stretching and warming up your articulators.
Shoulders:
1.
rotate shoulders both ways: forward and backward/ hug shoulders
2.
stretch out shoulders, drop over, build up
3.
shoulders up to ears, squeeze in back, release
Neck:
1.
stretch neck to side with weight of arm
2.
sigh into stretch
3.
help head up with fist
4.
reverse sides & forward
5.
look diagonally down over 1 knee and stretch neck down, reverse sides
Baker/ Articulation & Resonance Warm-up

6.
look diagonally up over 1 knee and stretch neck up and reach with jaw, reverse sides
7.
wiggle larynx
Jaw:
1.
massage masseter (jaw) muscle
2.
massage pressure point behind ears
3.
sigh and wipe hands down face
4.
massage gumline
5.
move chin up and down with hands or shake chin loose
Velum:
1.
trace velum with tongue
2.
ka, ga, ng
Cheeks:
1.
blow through lips with and without vibration
6.
blow through lips with tongue out and with and without vibration
7.
jiggle whole face with head forward
Lips:
1.
corners forward, back, sides
2.
corners up diagonal, down diagonal
3.
lips in over teeth and out
4.
massage lips together: chap-stick
Tongue:
1.
arch & cup
2.
channel & bunch
3.
tongue root out/ gag
4.
trace alveolar ridge with tongue
Resonance:
1.
massage maxillary sinuses on “ma” and send vibrations into those areas
2.
massage frontal sinuses on “hee” and send vibrations into those areas
3.
“mah-hee” with hands
4.
rub 3 rd
eye and hum into area
5.
chew vibrations
6.
hum making faces
7.
Hum in 3 different ranges: low-chest/ mid-hands over face/ high-top of head
8.
Neck Ladder: maintain space between vertebrae a.
drop head back and explore lower register vibrations on “uh”: chest b.
float head up and explore mid register vibrations on “ah”: oral cavity c.
drop head forward and explore high register vibrations on “ee”: nasal cavity d.
slide amongst the three registers
Baker/ Articulation & Resonance Warm-up

9.
Spinal Slides: same as above, just start in drop down a.
Drop down: high register b.
Build vertebrae up and explore mid register c.
Standing tall and explore low register d.
Slide up and down your register moving spine up and down as you go
10.
Throw the ball on “hey!”
Tongue Twisters:
1.
Ba Da Ga / Da Ba Ga
2.
buh, duh, guh, duh…but / guh, duh, buh, duh…gut / alternate
3.
Pa Ta Ka / Ta Pa Ka
4.
puh, tuh, kuh, tuh…put / kuh, tuh, puh, tuh…kut / alternate
5.
Consonant Clusters: a.
eesk, esk, ask, osk, oosk b.
eeng, eng, ang, ong, oong c.
eelk, elk alk, olk, oolk d.
eest, est, ast, ost, oost e.
eent, ent, ant, ont, oont f.
eesht, esht, asht, osht, oosht g.
create your own!
6.
Tongue Twisters: Some points to remember with tongue twisters: a.
Breathe/ Structure b.
Alignment c.
Articulate with maximum lip and tongue activity d.
Relaxation e.
When you screw up, keep driving on! f.
Image what you are saying g.
Also, you may find that certain tongue twisters feel good in certain ranges

Sally sells seashells by the seashore

Rubber baby buggy bumpers

Unique New York

Red leather yellow leather

What a to-do to die today at a minute or two ‘til two.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
Text:

Make sure your energy drives through the ends of sentences/ thoughts.

Use pauses and inflection to aid transitions in your text.

Even when you are speaking to a group a conversational tone will keep people with you. Speak to individuals within the group.

Have fun!
Baker/ Articulation & Resonance Warm-up