Docents – You Rock!
I’m always so full of admiration for docents – volunteers who act as guides in a museum or art gallery.
Why? Because they
✅ Do it for love, not money
✅ Undertake extensive training to learn the facts, the stories, the backgrounds to the works of art
✅ Are on their feet all day
✅ Use their voices all day
Having trained docents to enhance their vocal impact for speaking in large echoing spaces, I always stress the importance of vocal warm ups before taking a group through the museum or art gallery.
And the same applies to anyone preparing to speak in an acoustically challenging environment.
Always warm up the voice:
👄 Lip trills
👄 Breathing exercises
👄 Articulation warm ups
Just taking 5 mins to prepare will help to avoid any voice strain.
Great to spend time with the docents at the always outstanding Victoria and Albert museum, London. I hope you found some of my tips useful.
🏆⭐️ Helping Good Speakers Become Great Speakers.