Acting secrets for a strong, dynamic voice

Enter from stage left. On the stage, that is the left. It's from the actor's point of

view. That's my left, that is my right. This is downstage, because traditionally you would

be going down the stage and that is upstage, so I just appeared from stage left. Benjamin,

what are you talking about? Get to the point.

Hello. Welcome back to engVid. This is a lesson to help you get your voice from your body.

That's right, your body is an instrument like a violin, so we need to get the body ready

to produce sound, just as you would warm up to play an instrument. How do we do that?

Well, I picked up a few tips from my time as an actor, I'm going to be sharing some

of these with you now.

The main thing is you've got to be physical, you've got to be really in your body, you've

got to be present to it, you've got to know how your body feels for good sound to come

out. Okay. So, I'm just going to talk you through how I would get ready if I was about

to go on stage. This isn't something you're going to do on a tube on an underground metro

line, but if you're getting ready to do a presentation in a hotel, staying somewhere,

and you've got some time to kill, then play around, do something like what I'm going to

be doing now.

So, I'm going to be doing some yoga poses, so that's why I'm going to take my shoes and

socks off. No, I'm not a yoga teacher, although I have taught children yoga before, which

was a good chat-up line when I met my wife; she thought that was good. So, okay. So I'm

just going to start by just going, jump like that. Huh, huh. Ruh. Ahhh. Awh. Shaking out

a bit, getting my arms around a bit. Ah. And I'm going to go straight into a famous method

acting vocal warmup. So, this is about getting tension out of your body, and as I've just

messed my mobile phone, I've got quite a lot of tension in me right now, so it should be

good. Okay, so I'm sat down. Okay. And we're starting from the head down to the feet. Okay?

So, what you're doing is you're making circular movements. You have to close your eyes. And

where you feel a little bit tense, you release the tension with a: "Hah!" Okay? So I'm...

Just watch, and we'll talk about it in a sec. Ahhhhhh. Hah. Hah. Hah. Ahhhhhh. What I'm

trying to do is... You're just feeling where you want to move, so you can roll your head,

you can roll your shoulders, you can roll your middle, your groin, you can roll your

legs, you can stretch out here, you can stamp, you can really get into your body. Ahhhh.

Hah. Hah. Hah. Ahhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... Hah. Hah. Hah. Ahhhhhhhh. Hah. Hah. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Hah. Ahhhhhhhh. Hah. Now, I'm not going to, sort of, be totally self-indulgent. You should

do this for about 20 minutes. People do it from 20 minutes anyway up to an hour, and

you will feel your voice change after you do the exercise for longer and longer. I'd

love to carry on doing it now, but you might just sit there, going: "Uh, Benjamin, you

okay?" Okay? So that is an exercise to do over a space of time. Shut the door, turn

your phone off, or just smash it like me, and you won't be interrupted. Okay.

Next we're going to do a bit of yoga, so don't know if you know a sun salutation, hello to

the sun. Okay? You probably do. You can probably do it better than me. Hands together like

this, like they're in prayer, okay? And then we're going to go up, and then down. Okay?

So... Probably doing in totally the wrong order, but there we are. And now we're sort

of going down, we're going up, and then we're going to Downward Dog. My 18-month old baby

can do this, so you can, too. That foot up, that foot up. Ah. Wah. Ah. So you do it on

the right, now you do it on the left. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. So, one set is when you go with

your right and then your left. You want to be looking at doing it about 12 sets, continuously,

get into a real rhythm of doing it. Ready for the next one?

Okay, so I'm looking forward and I'm going to spin around, clocking you each time. One,

two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I would go around for 21 times, but I haven't

practiced this in quite a long time and I'll probably knock something over. Okay? And now

I'm going to... Sorry. I need to take two big breaths. Ah. [Inhales]. Hah.

Next exercise: Kneeling down like this. Ah. Ah. Ah. So you're leaning back, you've got

your hands on your butt... Bum, you're just going back like that. Okay? Now, I feel like...

I'm just listening to my body. I'm trying to listen to my body to feel what it needs

to do. I need to strengthen, I really want to use my muscles, so I'm going to go down

into plank pose. Okay? And I'm resting on my forearms, trying to be as straight as you

possibly can. Can you do that for a couple of minutes? Go for as long as you can. Strengthen

your core. Okay. Not going to do it for two minutes now because it'd be boring. I'm going

to show you... Woo, side plank there. So try to do that for as long as you can; nice, straight

line. Let's go the other side, there we are. Do that for some time. Do some push-ups. Okay.

Again, I'm not going to show off or bore you by doing loads, but there we are. Okay. I'm

centering myself again. Okay. Maybe imagine some earth energy coming up from the earth,

coming up through my feet and going back down into the earth.

Checking in with myself: How am I feeling? Hah. Little bit stiller, a little bit calmer.

If I feel I still have tension, I'd go back onto that chair, and I'd carry on with that

method acting exercise. Okay, I'm not saying I'm a method actor, but that's just one exercise

I like from their school of thought.

Okay, what I'm saying to you is: Our voice comes from our body. Okay? So let's not forget

about it. In today's age with emails, computers, it's very easy to forget about our body. But

if you want to have a great voice, it's important to use it, because your sound reflects your

relationship with your body. Until next time, it's been a real pleasure. See ya in the next video.