Want to talk like an NPR reporter? Here are some videos and tips to get you there. Practice for yourself at the end.

1. Learning How to Talk
(Again)
A guide to voice performance

2. The Gold Standard in Voice Performance
David Attenborough reading
“Hello” by Adele

3. People who may rely only on voice
Over-the-phone counselors/help-line operators
Reporters/ Newscasters
Voice Actors (David Attenborough)
Radio personnel/Podcast hosts
Sports Announcers
Slam Poets

4. Our voice betrays our feelings
●
Emotions (e.g., angry, sad, joyful, fearful, ashamed, proud, elated, desperate)
●
Moods (e.g., cheerful, gloomy, irritable, listless, depressed, buoyant)
●
Interpersonal stances (e.g., distant, cold, warm, supportive, contemptuous)
●
Preferences/Attitudes (e.g., liking, loving, hating, valuing, desiring)
●

5. No-No’s
1.Sing Songy - A tediously repetitive rising
and falling of the voice (Always ending with
a question)

6. No-No’s
2. Monotone - Comes from Greek word for
“one-tone”.
Dull and tedious, pitch does not rise or fall,
and continuous in sound.

7. No-No’s
Low Energy - Sounding bored, quiet

8. Three Tips for Training Your Voice
https://youtu.be/cSTqKi7Wuq4

9. How to Speak So That People Will Listen
https://youtu.be/eIho2S0ZahI
TED Talk on using the human
voice by Julian Treasure

10. Talking Like Fran
Get rid of nasality. There's a problem if your voice sounds disturbingly like Fran Drescher's. If
you're a whiner, try this: yawn. Feel your mouth open wide. You won't feel that kind of space if
you're nasal. The soft palate--a flap of skin on the back of the roof of your mouth--lifts and allows
air to float up into every chamber of your head, resulting in a full, resonant sound. It's like a little
trap door that can open and close. Conversely, when the soft palate lowers, the air stream is blocked
off from the head, and the air can only pass out of the nose.
For a quick fix, say "Ing--Ah." Elide the "Ing" right into the "Ah," and don't break them into two
sounds. Feel what's happening inside your mouth. On "Ing," the back of your tongue is pressed up
against the soft palate and no air can get into your head. It's nasal. When you say "Ah," the tongue
peels down from the roof and allows the sound to lift.

11. Subtle Differences
KUAC copy take 1
KUAC copy take 2
KUAC copy take 3
Listen to me reading the script and see if you can find my vocal techniques and
mistakes

12. Your turn
-KUAC is supported by Kinross Fort Knox, producing gold in Alaska since 1996,
where responsible environmental stewardship is the way business is done each
day.
-KUAC is supported by Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks. Practicing
peace, celebrating community, exploring spirituality. Sundays at 10:30am on
Pike’s Landing Road. Information at “U-U-F-F dot O-R-G”
(Practice reading out loud)

13. Congratulations!
You have
completed day one
of voice training