Voice Acting Warm Up Lines: These 27 Exercises Have You Covered

If you’re like me and you haven’t yet got your “warm up” routine nailed yet then fear not, I did some research to help us both.

The warm ups in this article will help you improve your diction & enunciation. If you practice them a bit every day, you’ll have an easier time reading scripts and you might even end up doing less takes.

But before you start, you should know that in this other article that I wrote, the first 8 exercises will help you physically warm up your vocal cords, lips, tongue and facial muscles. Check it out first, if you haven’t already. (You’ll have an easier time nailing these lines afterwards.)

Also, before practicing these lines, make sure you’re well-hydrated. The water you drink can take up to 4 hours to get through your digestive system and to your vocal cords. So having water near-by is handy but staying hydrated, in general is even more important.

1. The NBC Announcer Test

This one’s first because it’s not “just another tongue twister”. It’s unique and it’s stood the test of time. This was used at Radio Central New York (NBC) in the 1940s to test prospective radio talent.

It had to be performed perfectly and the reader was being judged based on clarity, enunciation, diction, tonality and expressiveness.

The prospective talent had to read it perfectly, with feeling and meaning.

Try reading it each day.

One hen

One hen
Two ducks

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso’s tweezers

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso’s tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso’s tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso’s tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso’s tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who haul stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time!

Whew! That’s a tough one. Don’t worry, the rest of this article is full of much shorter (but not necessarily easier!) warm up lines. Enjoy!

Tongue Twister Warm Up Lines

Once you find a few that you struggle with, copy and paste them into a file so you can focus on those. Each tongue twister works on different parts of talking.

2. Sit In Silence

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

3. Amidst The Mists

Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts,
With barest wrists and stoutest boasts,
He thrusts his fists against the post,
And still insists he sees the ghosts.

4. Thistle Sifter

She is a thistle sifter
and she has a sieve of sifted thistles,
and a sieve of unsifted thistles,
and the sieve of unsifted thistles
she sieves into the sieve of sifted thistles,
because she is a thistle sifter.

5. Peter Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

6. A Tutor Who Tooted

A tutor who tooted the flute,
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it easier to toot,
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?”

7. Bobby Bibbit

Bobby Bibbit bought a bat.
Bobby Bibbit bought a ball.
With the bat, Bob banged the ball,
Banged the ball against the wall.

8. Amidst The Mists

Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts,
With barest wrists and stoutest boasts,
He thrusts his fists against the post,
And still insists he sees the ghosts.

9. Mable’s Maple Tree

Mable had a maple tree.
Mable’s maple tree didn’t
make maple syrup for Mable.
Is Mable’s maple unable?

10. Sally’s Seashell Escapades

Sure, Sally sold sixty shells at the sea’s shore,
but Sue sold seventy seven!
Sally, surprised at Sue’s success, screamed
and shouted seventeen times;
“Sue’s shells are shabby! Sally’s shells are chic!”
Sue said to Sally, “Say what?”
Then Sue shouted, “Sally sold sixty six shells,
so she’s upset. Sorry for shouting!”

11. Swan Swam

Swan swam over the pond,
Swim swan swim!
Swan swam back again—
Well swum swan!

12. My Dame

My dame hath a lame tame crane.
My dame hath a crane that is lame.
Oh gentle Jane, doth my dame’s lame tame crane
leave and come home again?

13. What A To-Do

What a to-do to die today, at a minute or two to two;
A thing distinctly hard to say, but harder still to do.
For they’ll beat a tattoo, at twenty to two,
A rat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tattoo.
And a dragon will come when he hears the drum,
At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.

14. A Skunk Sat

A skunk sat on a stump.
The skunk thought the stump stunk.
The stump thought the skunk stunk.

15. Sister Suzy

Sister Suzy’s sewing shirts for soldiers.
Such skill at sewing shirts
my shy young sister Suzy shows.
Some soldiers send epistles
Saying they’d sooner sleep on thistles
Than the short serge shirts for soldiers
shy young sister Suzy sews.

16. Better Botter

Better Botter bought some butter
But she said this butter’s bitter
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter
So she bought some better butter
Put it in her bitter batter
And it made her bitter batter better

17. Denise Sees

Denise sees the fleece,
Denise sees the fleas.
At least Denise could sneeze
and feed and freeze the fleas.

18. One-One

One-one was a race horse.
Two-two was one too.
One-one won one race.
Two-two won one too.

That’s it for the warm-ups. Let’s mix it up a bit now.

19. Dr Seuss as a Warm Up

This one will help you to open your mouth, speak clearly and articulate fully. Try get it down to 25 seconds (without losing clarity).

Give me the gift of a grip-top sock,
A clip drape shipshape tip top sock.
Not your spinslick slapstick slipshod stock,
But a plastic, elastic grip-top sock.
None of your fantastic slack swap slop
From a slap dash flash cash haberdash shop.
Not a knick knack knitlock knockneed knickerbocker sock
With a mock-shot blob-mottled trick-ticker top clock.
Not a supersheet seersucker ruck sack sock,
Not a spot-speckled frog-freckled cheap sheik’s sock
Off a hodge-podge moss-blotched scotch-botched block.
Nothing slipshod drip drop flip flop or glip glop
Tip me to a tip top grip top sock.

20. Difficult One-Line Warm-Ups from Actual Scripts

• A twenty-two point two cubic foot frost free refrigerator-freezer.
• A central ice crystal’s six similar sides determine a snowflake’s six-way similarity.
• Withdraw five milliliters from the top of the platelet-poor plasma.
• A lower-cost alternative to traditional plans.
• A one half-inch insulin syringe.
• That just brushed freshness.

21. Three-Letter Non-Words

Watch Gary’s video to see how it’s done.

This one covers just about everything you might come across in a script and it really gets your lips, tongue, teeth and whole mouth involved in your warm ups.

The goal here is to over-enunciate the consonants. You want to do the phonetic sounds of the letters, not the letters themselves.

(Which means you want to say the “a” in “cat”, the “e” in “get”, the “i” in “kid”, the “o” in “dog” and the “u” in “bull”. Watch the video if you’re still confused :D)

ABT EBT IBT OBT UBT

ACT ECT ICT OCT UCT

ADT EDT IDT ODT UDT

AFT EFT IFT OFT UFT

AGT EGT IGT OGT UGT

AHT EHT IHT OHT UHT

AJT EJT IJT OJT UJT

ALT ELT ILT OLT ULT

AMT EMT IMT OMT UMT

ANT ENT INT ONT UNT

APT EPT IPT OPT UPT

ART ERT IRT ORT URT

AST EST IST OST UST

ATT ETT ITT OTT UTT

AWT EWT IWT OWT UWT (Really gets your lips moving.)

AXT EXT IXT OXT UXT

AZT EZT IZT OZT UZT

One of the commenters on that video shared a good tip:

For voice actors, this can be done as a warm up in each character’s voice, depending on who/what you’re voicing that day. It’s actually strangely fun.

22. Warm Up Lines for Improving Consonants

• The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue, the tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips.
• High roller, low roller, lower roller.
• A proper copper coffee pot.
• Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.
• Long legged ladies last longer.
• Mixed biscuits, mixed biscuits.
• A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer!
• He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
• The jolly collie swallowed a lollipop.
• The sick sister’s zither ceaseth; therefore she sufficeth us.
• Friday’s Five Fresh Fish Specials.
• Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.
• The Leith police dismisseth us.
• Twixt this and six thick thistle sticks.
• Red leather, yellow leather.
• She sells sea shells by the seashore, and the shells she sells are sea shells.
• The sixth Sikh Sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
• Three free thugs set three thugs free.
• Charles deftly switched straight flange strips.
• Gwen glowered and grimaced at Glen’s gleaming greens.

23. Warm-Up Lines Specifically for Improving Vowels

• Fancy! That fascinating character Harry McCann married Anne Hammond.
• Lot lost his hot chocolate at the loft.
• Snoring Norris was marring the aria.

24. One-Liner Warm-Up Tongue Twisters

The goal with tongue-twisters is to repeat them over and over again. Try go a little faster, each time, but while saying each word clearly.

1. Eleven benevolent elephants.
2. Girl gargoyle, guy gargoyle.
3. Three grey geese in green fields grazing.
4. Lesser weather never weathered lesser wetter weather.
5. Is there a pleasant peasant present?
6. United States twin-screw steel cruisers.
7. Cheryl’s chilly cheap chip shop sells Cheryl’s cheap chips.
8. The cat catchers can’t catch caught cats.
9. Bright blows the broom on the brook’s bare brown banks.
10. Black bugs’ blood.
11. The bleak breeze blights the bright blue blossom
12. Betty beat a bit of butter to make a better batter.
13. We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
14. Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
15. She stood on the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping and amicably welcoming him in.
16. Six sick slick slim sycamore saplings.
17. Top of the day. Tip top. Tippity toppity snip snop.
18. Babbling, Ben brought Babs to behave badly.
19. David tried drying tomatoes daily, due to Dina’s tremendous diet.
20. Paul pruned Penelope’s pansies leaving Penelope perplexed.
21. Twenty little leopards laughed at two lofty lions.
22. Imagine having an imaginative imagination.
23. Many mice are mighty mice.
24. Thirty-three times three plus one is me.
25. Mashed Potato. Smashed Tomato.
26. Baked Tomato. Burned Potato.
27. Lunch with Potatoes. Dinner with Tomatoes.
28. Potato, Tomato. Tomatoes, Potatoes.

25. Shorter, Faster Tongue Twisters

1. Tiny orangutan tongues!
2. Unique New York.
3. Toy boat.
4. Lemon liniment.
5. Three free throws.
6. Blue black bugs blood.
7. Red lorry, yellow lorry.
8. Giggle gaggle gurgle.
9. Ah-blah, alligator; blah-blah, anticipator
10. Beckoned Becky, boasted Bobby, believed babbling Brooke.
11. Can’t David Eat Fish, Gail?
12. Honduras has horrible hamburgers.
13. In Jeffrey Kemp’s last meeting, no one presentation remained solid.
14. Trust the tongue twisters to tickle that tongue.
15. Ugly vampires wear extraordinarily yellow zippers.
16. Alligators – Baboons – Cats – Dogs – Elephants – Fish
17. Gorillas – Horses – Iguanas – Jaguars – Kangaroos
18. Llamas – Monkeys – Newts – Octopus – Porcupines
19. Quail – Rabbits – Snakes – Turtles – Unicorns – Yaks – Zebra

26. Practicing Pure Vowel Sounds

This is similar to the three-letter non-words. Say these rhythmically with a breath in between every line.

A (pronounced ah)

ah – zah – ah – zah – ah – zah – ah

bah – yah – bah – yah – bah – yah – bah

cah – xah – cah – xah – cah – xah – cah

dah – wah – dah – wah – dah – wah – dah

E (pronounced eh)

feh – veh – feh – veh – feh – veh – feh

geh – the – geh – the – geh – the – geh

heh – seh – heh – seh – heh – seh – heh

jeh – reh – jeh – reh – jeh – reh – jeh

I (pronounced ee)

kee – nee – kee – nee – kee – nee – kee

lee – mee – lee – mee – lee – mee – lee

mee – lee – mee – lee – mee – lee – mee

nee – kee – nee – kee – nee – kee – nee

O (pronounced oh)

poh – joh – poh – joh – poh – joh – poh

roh – hoh – roh – hoh – roh – hoh – roh

soh – goh – soh – goh – soh – goh – soh

toh – foh – toh – foh – toh – foh – toh

U (pronounced oo)

voo – doo – voo – doo – voo – doo – voo

woo – coo – woo – coo – woo – coo – woo

yoo – boo – yoo – boo – yoo – boo – yoo

zoo – oo – zoo – oo – zoo – oo – zoo

27. Warm Up Lines for Practicing Every Letter of the Alphabet

a. Another annoying ant ate all of Aunt Annie’s apples at Anna’s abode.

b. Ben boasted about Brenda’s baking buns.

c. Cindy carried coffee to Carla Cummings.

d. Diana danced on a date.

e. Effortlessly, Elvin even eats every berry.

f. Frank’s effort, firm and frank, was fine.

g. Grandma’s gaudy garb gave Gary gusto to get going.

h. Howard Hopkins helped hire Henrietta Henry; however, Henry Howard helped hire Harry Hinkley.

i. Irma invited India and Ingrid inside.

j. Jimmy Johnson is joyful in Jakarta.

k. Katrina kept kindness close for karmic causes.

l. Lorna, Lena and Lewis loved living in Lithgow.

m. Morning Glories morn in glory in the morning, Glory.

n. Nancy knew nice was nicer than not nice.

o. Ottawa offered Omar a/a home.

p. Patrick provided Paula with purple petunias.

q. Queenie quivered from cold, quietly, in Canada.

r. Ramifications of not readying required reading requires readers to be re-remediated as re-remedial readers.

s. Surely Sandy Somers sought sight-seeing in San Sabastian.

t. Three tasty treats were treated to Tanya in Taiwan.

u. Under an upside-down umbrella, Ulmer undoubtedly gets un-dry.

v. Vincent vengefully “va-roomed” the Viper at Violet.

w. Watch out while witches wander in winter, wondering whether the weather is a rather.

x. Exhausted, Xena zapped Xona.

y. Yabba Yebba Yibba Yobba Yubba. Yappy, yeppy, yippy, yoppy, yuppy.

z. Zanga, zenga, zinga, zonga, zunga. Zigga, zugga, zagga, zebba, zooba.

That’s it for now!

Got any warm up lines you’d add to the list? Tweet ’em to me!

Sources:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7