Stage Acting Tips – Enhancing Vocal Diction for a Better Performance

Being born and mostly raised in the Deep South, I had quite the prominent Southern drawl. While this may have been endearing to those outside of the professional acting realm, my accent was met with disdain and awkward looks at stage auditions. I knew that I had to enhance my vocal diction in order to deliver a better performance, but I didn’t know how. That was until I began taking acting classes and researching all I could about proper voice diction techniques.

As a stage actor, you must strive to make your voice as clear and professional as possible. While accents are endearing, they can be detrimental to the clarity of your performance. Use the following tips to help improve your voice diction.

Clearly Speaking Consonants and Vowels

The first rule in enhancing your vocal diction is to clearly speak your consonants and vowels. Many times, the primary reason why you are not able to be clearly understood is because you skim over these important focal points of words. If you mispronounce a consonant or vowel, then the entire word is altered and could come across as gibberish.

For example, whenever you’re speaking your lines make sure you clearly say consonants such as “D,” “K,” or “T.” On the same token, make sure you do not distort the proper way of saying your vowels. The biggest falter many actors do on stage is drop the consonant at the end of the word. Thus, instead of saying “Truck” they say “Truh.”

Eliminating Regional Accents

Oftentimes, actors are unable to be clearly heard (such as dropping their consonants or distorting their vowels) because they’re using a regional accent. While regional accents are endearing and are commonplace, as a stage actor you must learn how to turn it off.

Personally, I had to learn how to switch off my Southern drawl when I’m performing (unless the character requires a Southern accent). This took many years of studying and being corrected by friends, professionals and acting coaches. Eventually, I learned the proper way to speak; however, it is still a daily challenge I must focus on.

Seeking Professional Help

While self-study is vital to the assurance of delivering proper vocal diction, oftentimes actors need the assistance of a professional vocal coach to help re-teach them how to speak and form words properly. Search out vocal speech coaches in your city. For example, contact your local community college or university and ask to speak to the English department. Often there is a linguistics professor who would be glad to tutor you on the proper ways of speaking for a nominal fee.