ASSOCIATE OF SPEECH NEW ZEALAND IN TEACHING SPEECH AND
DRAMA
CREDIT ONE
Teaching Voice and Speech
TIME: One hour
QUESTION
Either
A:
“Voice development takes intelligent practice” (Gondin and Mammen; The Art of Speaking
Made Simple, pub WH Allen, 1970.)
What elements of voice development do you deem important for your students to practise
and why?
AND
Suggest creative ways of helping your students improve their vocal development. State the
age and number of your students.
Or
B:
“Some people have a natural affinity or speaking to an audience but it still needs to be
encouraged and fostered and shaped”. (Meredith Caisley; Speaking Volumes article from
the Listener, May 23, 2011.)
What elements of speaking do you consider most important in encouraging your students to
communicate well?
AND
Explain how you would foster and shape these elements in your students, stating what
creative exercises you would use.
State the age and number of your students.
SAMPLE ANSWER: B
While there are many elements of speaking that are considered important in encouraging
students to communicate well, there are a few that can be singled out. This essay will cover
resonance, projection and modulation which are all key factors that give people the ability to
communicate well with others. It is important to remember, however, that there are many
other elements of speaking that must be used in unity to communicate effectively.
Resonance simply means “sounding again”. It applies to the initial sound that is made in the
larynx that is enriched and intensified. For people to communicate clearly and effectively,
working on resonance is very important. If the initial tone is allowed to become intensified in
all the hollow spaces of the head, a truly balanced tone can be achieved successfully. The
three areas that we are most conscious of are the pharynx, mouth and nose and so that the
fullest use can be made of these, the tongue, soft palate, lower jaw and lips must be flexible.
The mouth is a movable resonator, and by changing the shape of the mouth, sounds of
lower and higher intensity can be made. Vowel sounds are most open o resonance as the
sound is not topped in its passage through the mouth. To produce a fully resonant tone,
there should be no undue tension in the body. The soft palate, lips, tongue and jaw should
be flexible. There should be ample supply and control of breath. Resonance is important in
encouraging students to communicate well because certain sounds find their resonance in
the resonators and without them, students cannot develop an effective means of
communication. Sounds such as m, n, ng which are sent through the nose and sinus
spaces find their resonance there, and for this, a flexible soft palate is needed. The vowel
sounds, while having nasal resonance, do not follow nasal consonants out through the nose
but through the mouth. Beautiful sounds can be made and produced through the artistic use
of resonance. Students can later put this to use when developing characterisations from
plays and even poems. Resonance is an important part of any aspect of drama and is a vital
tool that will aid them to communicate well.
There are ways of developing this skill so that it can be integrated naturally into everyday
situations and performances. Certain exercises can aid the development of this skill. For
the purposes of this essay, I will be working with a group of four, 10 year old boys who will
later be sitting their Grade 3 examinations later in the year.
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In order to resonate sounds it is important to make the jaw, soft palate and tongue
flexible. We begin with a jaw exercise. Drop the jaw several times – mah, mah, mah.
After his, exercise the soft palate by making the sounds ing, ing, ing. To make the
tongue more flexible, stretch it out as far as it can go and let it lie still; then point it up
to the nose and down to the chin. To flex the lips, say oo, ee, oo, ee, oo, ee.
An enjoyable exercise to do with 10 year old boys is to do “The Tarzan Voice”.
Students beat their chests with the flat of their hands and make sounds. The teacher
will do the exercise with them and then they imitate the sounds. Vary the pitch by
sliding up and down the scale. This exercise develops their resonators and makes
them more confident with vocal variety.
Another element of speaking that is deemed very important is allowing students to
communicate well is projection. This is achieved by throwing forward the tone, pitching it
against the hard palate and teeth so that the sound produced can reach every part of the
room. Often when people are told to project their voices they begin to shout. Projection is
not shouting. It comes from an ample supply of breath-turned-into-voice made resonant,
well articulated and directed up and out. Flexible lips and agile jaw act as instruments
that will aid the student to project well. It is important for the student to “think forward”
without appearing to over-articulate the words. Full resonance is possible because the
hollow spaces in the head are used to capacity and all the tension and strain are taken
away from the larynx and pharynx so that there is full resonance there too. The further
forward and wider the sound has to travel, the slower the pace must be, the more
frequent the pausing. Projection and resonance must work together with good breath
control.
An activity/exercise that the group of boys can do to help them project their voices is the
ball game. The students spread out in a circle, and a ball is thrown between them. The
person with the ball must say their name with an adjective of the same initial. So for
example, student #1is Adam, so he may call out “amazing Adam”. Student #2 will repeat
that and add his own name eg “cheeky Charlie”. Student #3 repeats the first two and
adds his own. The game not only helps them to project their voices to ensure that the
other boys hear them, but they also develop concentration, memory and co-ordination.
The final element of speaking that is needed for student to communicate well is
modulation. Modulation is the artistic management of a well-produced voice. We use
variation in pitch, pace and volume and use emphasis, inflection and pause to help
convey meaning and mood effectively. Modulation gives variation to speech so that
monotony is avoided and listeners can remain attentive. Sometimes students use
modulation to force meaning and mood merely for the sake of contrast. This is not the
right way to go about it. Good modulation of the voice follows use of the imagination and
thorough understanding of the piece to be spoken, its purpose and style. Modulation
must be controlled, and control begins with relaxation and good breath control.
To improve students’ understanding and use of modulation, I would get them to play
what is known as the “Gorilla Game”. When the teacher calls out “gorilla”. The boys must
take the stance and posture of a gorilla and while taking giant steps around the room say
“huh, huh, huh” in low deep grunts like a gorilla. When the teacher calls out
“exhilaration”, the boys jump up and call out “Yippee, yippee, yippee” which generally
comes out at a high pitch. When the teacher calls out “accusation”, the boys call out
“you, you, you”. Each of these words requires the boys to change their pace, volume and
pitch thereby getting them to modulate their voices.
“Some people have a natural affinity for speaking to an audience, but it still needs to be
encouraged and fostered and shaped.” Meredith Caisley is absolutely right.
Communication takes a combination of elements that need to work together to help
students to communicate well. Be they delivering speeches to their class, or performing
on stage, resonance, projection and modulation are vital in having the ability to
communicate effectively.
Examiner’s Report:
This was a well developed response to the question asked and it was good to read that
your choices were only some of the major elements of communication. Your explanation,
analysis and justification of your choice of resonance, projection and modulation were
thorough, and the exercises used to foster and shape these elements were appropriate
for boys of the given age. You have structured your essay well and included much
valuable detail. Well done.