Voice & Speech

Having a good command over Voice and Speech in very

essential for an actor because your audience not only see you
but also listens to your very carefully. Also, a good voice and
impactful speech enhances your performance as an actor.
As an actor we need to work on Following aspects to have
impressive Voice & Speech.
 Tone - It refers to the volume of our voice. Generally in
Theatre performance our voice should be loud enough
so that the even the person at sitting at the last row
should be able to listen to the actor . However in
Camera acting the tone of the actor depends on other
factors such as distance of another character , location,
emotion etc.

 Tempo – Tempo is also called speed, pitch or pace as

how fast or slow you deliver your lines. One has to make
sure that the lines we say should be clear to the
audience . the factors affecting the tempo of the
dialogues are – Urgency, emotion, background of the
scene.
 Emphasis – It means how to put stress in certain word
where it could be highlighted through our voice.

 Pauses - Speaking dialogues in a monotonous pace will

sound very boring to the audience. In real life as well we
put pauses between our words wherever required.
Same has to be done in your performance.

 Rhythm – At times actors speak the lines the way the

have read it in their head or some actors speak their
lines in a certain rhythm. It could be both good and bad
depending on the demand of the scene and director.

 Voice emotion – Emotions are not just to be visible on

face and body but should also be audible in voice as
well. Podcasts, audio books and radio dramas are good
way to improve Voice emotion.

 Voice Variation - Else then Voice emotion an actor also

has to work on their voice variation which means the
change in voice depending upon physical, mental and
geographical condition of an actor.
 Clarity - it is very important to have a clear speech and
dialogue delivery as our audience are wants to
understand the whole situation properly at times slurry
voice, missing letters or sounds may impact the clarity of
actors.

 MTI/ Diction – Mother Tongue Influence (MTI) is very

common in Indian Actors because our country is very
diverse in terms of Languanges. MTI may also affect
your diction and speech. It could be beneficial for
regional work but for national and international projects
one should learn how to have a neutral accent.

 Pronunciation - Pronunciation refers to speaking certain

words or letters incorrectly. There are many people who
find it difficult to speak letter like SH, Zaa, Ph , etc.
Having good pronunciation leaves a powerful impact to
the audience.