Acting Tips - Grasping Your Inner Images to Deliver Natural Lines of Dialogue

I want you to close your eyes, and imagine what you did yesterday. Where did you go? Who did you see? Who did you speak with? You will realize that when you concentrate on your observations, your mind creates inner images based on these observations. These images may be literally, images, or they may be emotions, but no matter what the "images" are, they are there and they are real.

As an actor, you may use the inner images created through observation to help you deliver lines that do not feel rehearsed or scripted, but into words that are organic and warm with sincerity.

Using Inner Images

The process of using inner images within your dialogue delivery can be a long and tedious one as you must go through each line of dialogue and conjure up images that are associated with each line.

One of the methods of doing so is typing out your dialogue, printing it off, and beside each line of dialogue right an inner image. This image is one that will cross the mind of the character when speaking. You may call this, visual subtext; however, its purpose remains the same - to create a character that delivers warm and organic dialogue void of expectations and full of emotion and realism.

Developing the Skill of Inner Images

Many actors, especially new actors, find the process of utilizing inner images while delivering dialogue to be difficult. Even the process of creating inner images can be almost impossible for some actors.

One of the most effective ways of developing inner images is to write down your own inner images. Before going to bed each night, close your eyes and think about your day. Upon doing so, quickly write down the "images" that come to your mind. What stuck out about a particular person? What do you remember most, visually speaking, about a particular interaction?

Writing down your own inner images will aid you when it comes time to developing the inner images for your character.