Hmm. Short of taking an acting class, are there ways I can learn comic timing and to project my voice? I wouldn't mind taking an acting class for non-actors, but I don't know if there are such things in my locale (or if I'd be able to afford them).
I first learned how to project my voice (as well as to enunciate my words) in college and church choirs. Reading entire books out loud like St. Augustine did (especially Shakespeare's plays, but also novels, poetry, and essay collections such as Emerson's) also greatly helped me, and perhaps helped me more than the the choirs did. I discovered two important things when reading books out loud: The first thing I learned is not to rush or speak quickly, and the second thing I learned is how to accent and emphasize particular words and passages as well as how to find appropriate places to pause. Here's an exercise you also might want to try -- when you speak or read out loud, emphasize each word and each syllable as if you were biting down on it with your teeth, and while you do this, open your mouth as wide as you can when you speak. Perhaps try doing this while speaking the following sentence from the First Quarto of
Hamlet: "To be, or not to be, I [aye] there's the point, / To Die, to sleepe, is that all?" (And don't be afraid to spit a little bit as you recite it.)
