Feel It to Fake It

To play an emotion you have to let your body do it first:

• Joy opens the throat, lifts the pitch, brightens the tone
• Sadness drops the pitch, slows the pace, adds breath
• Anger tightens the throat, raises the volume, sharpens consonants
• Fear lifts the pitch, quickens the pace, adds a tremor

Now say one neutral line, "I need to talk to you", in each color and record it. Can a listener name the emotion without being told? If not, push it further. Real life needs only a hint of this; practice needs the dial cranked to build the range.