Six sections, each a different muscle. Read every line three ways: as written, as its opposite, then flat. The flat read tells you what the words do on their own.
Warm-up: one line, many meanings
2 min[read each line as written, then the opposite emotion, then completely flat]
"You came back." [relieved, then furious, then flat]
"I know exactly what you did." [teasing, then threatening, then flat]
"It's fine. Really, it's fine." [actually fine, then very much not fine, then flat]
"We're not going to make it, are we?" [terrified, then strangely calm, then flat]
Hero and mentor
2 min[warmth comes from slowing down, not from smiling harder]
Hero: "I didn't come all this way to stand at the door. Stay behind me, and don't look down."
Hero, after losing: "I had one job. One. And I watched it fall apart in my hands." [let the second sentence crack, then recover on the last word]
Mentor: "Everyone is afraid the first time. The ones who make it are simply afraid and walking anyway."
Villain
2 min[menace lives in control; the quieter you go, the closer the mic]
"Please, sit. I had the chair warmed for you. I've been expecting this conversation for a very long time."
"You think this is about the crown? How small. This was never about the crown." [a beat of genuine amusement before "How small"]
"Run, if it helps. I'll still be here when you get tired."
Comic sidekick
1 min[timing is everything; the pause before the punchline is the joke]
"Okay, good news and bad news. Good news: I found the map. Bad news..." [two-second pause] "...the map found the river first."
"I'm not scared. I'm strategically positioned behind you."
Action and anime-style lines
1 min[big energy from the breath and the body; never push from the throat]
"Not today! Not while I'm still standing!" [full power, then drop straight to a whisper on the next line]
"...I promised them. I'm keeping it."
"Everyone, get down!" [effort sound first, then the line, as if you're already moving]
Two-hander scene: play both parts
2 min[record each character as a separate pass, then listen to them together]
MARA: You're late. Again.
JUN: The bridge was out. I had to go the long way. Through the swamp. You can smell it, can't you?
MARA: I can smell it. Did you bring it?
JUN: About that. [beat] Define "bring."
MARA: Jun.
JUN: It's in the swamp. Safely. Mostly safely. I know exactly where. Roughly where.
MARA: [long exhale] Get your boots.