Vocal Variety
from Renaud, Lissa Tyler. "Voice Magic: Learning the Tricks of vocal variety." Dramatics. March 2002. pp. 20-25.

• "Create a system of notation for ... pitch, emphasis, rhythm, volume, and inflection."
• Experiment by reading comic strips aloud.
• Take a "thought breath" before you speak: make that breath a part of your performance. Practice with these sentences:
  1. You're not going to like this, but...
  2. Just what I always wanted!
  3. Not that story again.
  4. You should have seen her [making a fool of herself]!
  5. You poor thing!
• Practice "tipping" your voice up and down, moving freely during the following sentences:
  1. How can you say that? I wasn't even there.
  2. How come she gets to go, and I don't?
  3. Honey, I'm home, just like I promised.
  4. I just heard: the circus is coming to town!
  5. I don't think they can ask you to do that.
• Say those "tipping" sentences, but try increasing speed; decreasing speed; changing volume. How do these slight changes change the meaning of the sentence?
• Mouth position: keep teeth apart to give yourself maximum variety of sound.
• If you emphasize too many words, you get the "sledgehammer effect." Recommendation from one actor: choose just ONE word from every line to emphasize.
• "In general, the most important words in a sentence are the ones that don't repeat. 'Take some shallots, chop the shallots, and then saute the shallots in butter,' sounds like you're talking to an idiot. But read it as, 'Take some shallots, chop the shoallots, and then saute the shallots in butter,' and you'll really cook." The same commentator Jay Rose adds, "it's almost never appropriate to stress prepositions or conjunctions."
• "Tone interest -- also called 'tonal shift' -- refers to the quality of thought or feeling expressed in the voice. ...Wonderful speakers [shift their voices] throughout a sentence." Exercise:
  1. cupcake, storm
  2. wicked, brave
  3. flying, gobbling
  4. cave, daisy
  5. tiara, gunboat
  Experiment:"Say the first two words with a vastly different quality to your voice. Then reverse the words, so you are saying 'storm' as you would normally say 'cupcake.'" Then make your own pairs of practice words.