Yoda’s voice has changed a bit through all Star Wars movies, but generally, it’s quite deep, throaty, slow-paced and nasally. Also, to do a good impression of Yoda’s voice you’ll have to use a certain structure for your sentences and add some ‘Mhm’s’ and ‘YES’s’ at the end of sentences.
Let’s take a deeper dive into how to achieve Yoda’s voice.
Use a deep, throaty voice
Yoda has a deep and throaty voice. To do a good impression of Yoda’s voice you’ll want to lower the larynx and create the space in your throat for more resonance in that area. If possible you’ll want to speak from as low as possible within your throat and add some gravel to it. You can hear in his voice that it’s bit earthy and rough.
Remember that his voice is not human and so he doesn’t sound like any human normally would. For that reason, it’s alright to go a bit over the board when doing his voice impression.
Nasal voice
Yoda’s voice is a bit nasally. Therefore try to push some air through the nasal cavities. You should focus on your nose area when doing Yoda’s voice impression. You can read more about creating nasal voice here.
It helps to try making ‘ngh’ sound and then incorporating it into your Yoda voice. It naturally makes you use more of your nasal cavities which will help you understand the feel and resonance that you should aim for when doing the Yoda impression.
Sound Wise
Yoda is old and portrayed as wise. Therefore, he speaks slowly as if every word he says has a deep meaning. When doing his impression don’t rush your sentences and pace yourself slow. It will also help with the deep voice as speaking slowly help to maintain a lower pitch.
You should also sound somewhat condescending as if you’re teaching someone that’s slightly below you in terms of knowledge. Remember that he’s a master Yoda.
Also, keep your calm, Yoda is not easily influenced. He has the high moral ground and experience and isn’t easily phased by anything.
Grammar
Yoda does not speak in perfect sentences. Instead, he likes to put ‘Subject’ at the end of the sentence. Hence, a sentence like ‘I like to eat chicken’ turns into ‘to eat chicken I like’. In addition, he likes to add some ‘Mhms’ and ‘Yes’ at the end of the sentence occasionally, so it would do good to incorporate that once in a while.
Do not use contractions
Do not ever use contractions when doing Yoda’s impression. He will never say: ‘I’ll, don’t, won’t, he’s’. Instead use full phrases such as: ‘I will, do not, will not, he is’.