Speech training (drama)
General Aim
To learn to use one’s voice in public.
Learning goals
To develop speech technique: articulation, intonation, phonation, utterance, etc.
Through this exercise, participants can start developing their speech technique and their memory.
Short description/background/Introduction/Tips for the trainer
Speech exercises based on short poems, nursery rhymes or limericks.
The background of the method is based on Imre Montágh’s work – a Hungarian special education teacher, a speech therapist and an associate professor at the College of Theater and Film.
Target
Suggested group
Materials
The nursery rhymes and poems in printed forms
Duration
approx. 1 h
Procedure/steps
The facilitator presents the first short rhyme, which focuses on the source of the speech.
English: I speak in the front, I speak in the back, I speak above, I speak below, I speak through my nose.
The point is to follow what is said in the short nursery rhyme. For example, when the nursery rhyme asks to speak up front, participants try to do so as much as possible. The turn is taken through eye contact, so that everyone can practice.
The group learns together a short nursery rhyme, the facilitator can choose one.
Ideas for English: One two buckle my shoe, London bridge is falling down, etc…*
First, participants are given a short time to learn it. Next, the facilitator asks participants to repeat it, asking them to moderate their tone according to the requests made: very loudly, normal volume and whispering. Then focusing on the articulation and the different phonemes.
In the end or in another session the group learns together a short poem, which the facilitator chooses or it can be based on a poem which a participant knows.
Usually a short poem is chosen. The transition to the poem is important because it allows the participants to interpret it differently from the nursery rhyme.
Evaluation/Final debriefing
In the end we sit in a circle and share our reflections:
What was challenging, what was easier?
Literature/Video
Montágh, I. (2005). Tiszta beszéd. [Budapest].
Montágh, I. (1996). Figyelem vagy fegyelem. Holnap kiadó.
https://www.zeneszoveg.hu/dalszoveg/92952/gyermekdalok/sandor-napjan-zeneszoveg.html
https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Verstar-verstar-otven-kolto-osszes-verse-2/toth-arpad-1CABE/versek-1CAC3/lang-1CF10/