2. Be careful in being overly dramatic and trying to change your voice in
a too dramatic way. This may actually be distracting. Also, it is
extremely difficult to maintain this. Your character may end up speaking
with the wrong voice.
3. Examine the text of the story you are working on. Reading aloud will
help you identify places where you are having difficulty speaking the
lines. You may
find deleting or slightly altering the text will help you in getting a
smooth flow of words. Practice in your story where to lower your voice,
where to pause for effect, where to speed up the flow of words.
4. Dialect can be very difficult to do unless you are a native speaker.
You may find it more effective to use your own words but add some selected
phrases to provide the regional color. Watch that your attempts at
dialect are not interpreted as making fun of someone's "accent."
2. Consider starting your story with no gestures at all. Add gestures
where they seem to fit naturally and are appropriate to the story.
Ziskind suggests that
gestures should precede the spot in the story where the spoken word is
uttered.
3. Watch yourself in a full length mirror or videotape a performance.
Practice various gestures and evaluate their ability to add to the story.
Analyze your performance. Practice your final performance just as you
plan to do it. Your performance should be smooth and fluid.
4. Avoid nervous mannerisms as much as possible. If sitting down, hold
your feet still. Avoid jangly jewelry or other objects you might
"twiddle." Pushing hair back from the face is a common nervous habit.
Return to
Handbook for
Storytellers
