 Jon
Beaupré is a voice and performance consultant for radio
and television performers. Under the name Broadcast Voice, he
provides private training and workshops for reporters, anchors,
sports and weather casters, and others working in electronic
and broadcast media. He teaches in the Broadcast Communications
program at California State University at Los Angeles, and conducts
workshops and seminars with the Associated Press Radio and Television
Association. He has been a fixture on the convention circuit,
teaching workshops at a wide range of specialty journalism and
broadcast conventions and stations on both coasts of the U.S. |
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On your Mark
November 5th, 2001
On your mark... I’ve been stalling getting to the articulation
exercises, because they are frankly, not the sexy part of
the performance work we do.
They are repetitive, we do them for years before we get any
kind of significant payoff, and frankly, they can be hard
to fit into your schedule when you have a gazzillion other
things to do.
Here are the rules:
1. Repeat the following syllables FOUR TIMES only, not five,
not three! You are trying to use up all your air on four repetitions.
2. Do a small set up before you do these exercises (Inhale,
exhale, inhale to prepare, pause, speak...!)
3. Make sure each syllable is heard. Take the time to sound
each part of the sound, not just the beginning and ending,
but the whole sound.
4. Keep your pace up. While we want to do these exercises
faster than our normal speed, we can build up to that speed
as time goes by. You do not need to start out as fast as you
can go.
5. The most important rule is this: it is not critical that
you get the sounds perfect from the beginning. The idea is
to slowly hone these sounds to perfection over a long time,
until they are brilliant and clear. By comparison, when you
learn tongue twisters as a child, the teacher often told you
to slow down until you get the sounds perfect.
This is NOT what you should be doing! Start with a moderate
loudness, and try to make the sounds as clearly as possible
at a moderate pace. 6. If you start to stumble with these
syllables, DON”T STOP and go back to the beginning.
Just fumble on to the end of the set. Slowly but surely, you
will shape the sounds into the perfect articulations you want.
Here are the sounds:
Guddah-Buddah (rhymes with ‘bud’ not ‘bood)
TTT-DDD (say ‘tuh-tuh-tuh-duh-duh-duh’) PPP-BBB (‘puh-puh-puh-buh-buh-buh’)
KKK-GGG (‘kuh-kuh-kuh-guh-guh-guh’)
Peachy-Weachy
Peachy-Neachy
Peachy-Leachy
Lip-Sips
Feh-Smah
Do these sets at least three or four times, then repeat them
going the other direction (Buddah-Guddah, for example), using
up your air in four repetitions, full voice, at a pretty moderate
pace. Next week, some more variations. Until then, keep breathing
deeply!
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