Arkansas State Communication Association

Oral Communication Units and Activities

Voice Warmup or Percolate Those Articulators

Unit(s): Voice and Diction/Oral Interpretation

Purpose:

The purpose of this exercise is to stress the value of vocal warmups while providing an activity for practice

Objective:

Students will demonstrate proper articulation as they warm up their articulators.

Materials:

Voice warmup handout

Mirrors (optional)

Procedure:

Students should be seated in such a way as to not be distracted by each other's physical appearance during this exercise. (Ideally in front of mirrors so they can watch their own articulators)

After a brief discussion of the importance of good articulation, go through each exercise orally with the students.

If students particularly enjoy the tongue twister section, have them write tongue twisters and assign them to other members of the class.

Voice Warmups

Basic Routine for the Articulators:

Smile Pucker: Smile with exaggeration, letting your teeth show and drawing the lips as tightly as possible, making your cheek muscles hurt. Say "eeee." Then with exaggeration, pucker or protrude your lips, saying "oooo." Repeat ten times each in quick succession (eeeee-ooooo). Repeat with "mee-moo," "tee- too," "bee- boo," "gee-goo," "lee-loo."

Open Wide: Open your mouth as wide as possible. Say "ahhh." Now close your mouth, saying "ooo." Repeat "ahhh-ooo" several times, being sure to open your mouth extremely wide.

Tongue Tip: Stretch your tongue, trying to touch the tip of your nose. With your tongue, now try to touch your chin. Only one in 1000 can actually do either, so don't worry if you can't succeed. The stretch is the important thing. Repeat several times.

Tongue Stretch: Curl up your tongue and touch the soft palate at the back of your throat. Now push out your right cheek and then your left cheek as far as you can with your tongue. Repeat.

Tongue Twisters: Say quickly with exaggerated tongue, lip and jaw movements several of the following tongue twisters.

Much whirling water makes the mill wheel work well.
Odd birds always gobble green almonds in the autumn.
She makes a proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.
Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.
Shave a cedar shingle thin.
Double bubble gum bubbles double.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if awoodchuck could chuck wood.
Sinful Caesar sipped his snifter, seized his knees and sneezed.
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!

Enunciate the last sound in the following words:

     coming            friend         singing

     going               dead          past

     running            across        talking

Clearly articulate the following words:

     gentlemen       -    (not   gen'lmen)

     city                    -    (not   cidy)

     government     -    (not   gov'ment)

     Geography      -    (not   jog'phy)

     twenty               -    (not   twenny)

     hundred           -    (not   hunnard)

     don't know       -    (not   dunna)

Arkansas State Communication Association

Teaching Guidelines

Arkansas Guidelines

Oral Communication Units and Activities

Voice Warmup or Percolate Those Articulators

Voice Warmups