Today’s video is all about how to create a new character voice in a way that’s interesting, flexible, and actually sustainable. Whether you’re improvising, acting, clowning, or recording an audiobook, the challenge is the same: you can find a cool voice… but can you keep it healthy over time?
In this video, I explore:
• How to find a new voice through physicality, qualities, or play
• Why wandering around making noises is legitimate voice work
• How to get a character voice “into the body”
• What actually makes a voice sustainable vs. damaging
• How to identify the key elements of a character voice
• How to remove unnecessary tensions while keeping the sound
• And how to keep adjusting the voice over a long run of shows
This is the five-step process I teach in my Voice for Improvisers workshop, and it applies to actors, voice actors, audiobook narrators, clowns, and anyone who uses character voices regularly.
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🎭 I’m Alex Owen-Hill — a voice coach, performer, clown, and researcher exploring voice, authenticity, and neurodivergence. These videos are scrappy on purpose. They’re my way of practising what I teach: being messy, curious, and unpolished while exploring the voice.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – How do you create a character voice?
00:17 – Voice for Improvisers workshop context
00:56 – The 5-step process
01:13 – Step 1: Finding the voice (many possible methods)
02:56 – Physicality, elements, animals, qualities, copying
04:00 – Childhood “making noises” and play
04:08 – Step 2: Get it in the body
05:03 – Step 3: Find the key elements
06:10 – Step 4: Make it healthy (tweaking tension)
07:57 – Retraction vs constriction
08:30 – Breathiness, resonance, and vocal effects
09:04 – Step 5: Don’t stop adjusting it
09:49 – Why retrofitting healthy technique is harder
10:03 – Full recap of the five steps
10:24 – A scrappy outro
#voicecoach #voiceacting #charactervoices #improv #acting #audiobooks #voiceover #clowning #estillvoice #linklater #vocalsafety #performance
