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Actor Adrian Lester demonstrates the importance of projecting your voice in a theatre. A group of students practise reading lines from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at various volume levels and Lester gives them tips on how to effectively pronounce the lines.

Give students a line from a drama they are studying and ask them to underline all the important consonants in that line. They should walk around the space saying their line to inanimate objects. Then they should say them to every person they walk past, finally, to an imagined person across the room. They should focus on the consonants, ensuring they ‘spit them out’. Ask students what differed in their projection as they changed who the line was delivered to. Discuss the use of a stage whisper and the importance of correct pronunciation when performing. Arrange students on either side of a room and have them deliver their line in a whisper that must be audible to the group opposite. As in the clip, support them in getting this right.