If you want to be a narrator for audiobooks, you’re going to have to get used to doing a lot of strange things. This is a job where you go into a closet and talk to yourself for a couple of hours in silly voices. You have to be prepared for people to give you weird looks. In fact, you have to embrace the oddness of your profession! Being a narrator is a lot like being an athlete—in that you have to be willing to get loud, and you have to train your body to operate at peak capacity because voice acting can be a demanding job. Your voice is an instrument controlled by some of the most complex muscles in the body, going all the way from your head to your belly.
Any athlete will tell you about how they don’t dare jump into a game without doing the proper warm-ups. If their muscles aren’t ready to react, if their brains aren’t in the zone, then they risk injuring themselves and possibly preventing their continued participation in the sport they love.
If you want to get into audiobook narration, here are a couple of weird but helpful exercises that I’ve picked up over the years that will keep you and your voice in tip-top shape.
- MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
First find a corner in the room. One towards the ceiling. Stare at it hard—like it just swiped your ice cream. Then take a deep breath through your nostrils. When you feel ready, with a big gulp of air and lips still closed, let loose your most ferocious hum at that corner! The further the better, just make sure that corner can hear it and knows how mad you are. Don’t stop to take a breath. Keep humming continuously at that same basic pitch until you feel your breath growing short. Then open your mouth and let loose a mighty “A” sound. Keep that going for as long as you can, then take a deep breath.
This exercise is meant to warm up your vocal cords and even your facial muscles to get them ready for some intense activity.
So does that corner look suitably intimidated? If it doesn’t, then it might be time to make motorboat noises at it. Lip trills are a great way to loosen up your lips so they’re ready for some nice, smooth articulation.
- Pretend to Be a Balloon.
This exercise is designed to loosen your whole body so air can move through it more easily. What better way than to pretend you’re an object with too much air? Imagine your body is a bounce house or even that arm flailing inflatable tube man you see on the side of the road. Take a slow deep breath and let your body rise with it. Like every part of your body is being held up by its own balloon. Stand on your tippy-toes, arms held high, face tilted upward. Once in position, it’s time to deflate. Don’t pop the balloons all at once, instead let them slowly lose air with your exhale. Your body slowly collapsing into a ball before finally springing back into your normal stature upon completion.
- Stick a Carrot in Your Mouth.
Other voice teachers or textbooks will recommend using a wine cork, but I don’t have fancy wines around and I like this method because you get a snack afterwards. First, take a baby carrot, a nice plump one, and stick it in between your teeth. Next, just start talking. You can ask your friend about the weather or talk about how great the latest Ooligan book is. But if you need to be professional, I’ll give you a tongue twister:
“To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark, dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp, shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!”
Say this a few times, and then finally eat the carrot. If you’re using a wine cork, you can skip this last step. After you’re done, you might notice a significant difference in your articulation of words. This is because your mouth knows just how much room it really has to work with to make sounds and where the tongue needs to be to make every vowel sound count.
With that, you’re ready to get behind the mic! Do these stretches before and after you’re in the booth and you’ll be able to speak, sing, and scream for longer without damaging your voice. Remember these exercises don’t make you invulnerable, they just get your body ready, and they’re just the beginning. Good voice actors use a variety of methods to maintain their vocal health and you should too.
Have fun!
Sources: