Mascots should never speak! When the person wearing the costume speaks to patrons while wearing the mascot costume, it ruins the illusion for children. When you speak while wearing a mascot costume, your voice will be extremely muffled. Not only will it be hard to hear or understand what you’re saying, but it will also sound like a normal human being.
You must remember, children actually believe that the costume is an actual living character- not a person wearing a costume!! Also, in most cases, the same person will not be wearing the costume every single time. Each person who wears the costume will have a different voice.
Chances are, you will get at least a handful of children who will ask why the character won’t speak to them. If the mascot has a guide (which they should if they are doing a meet and greet!), the guide can give the child any number of answers (ie: his throat is sore from singing earlier that day, he’s saving his voice for the show, he’s shy, etc- be creative!).
It’s a good idea to have a written description of how your character acts. That way, every person who wears the costume will know exactly how they are supposed to act. For example, if your mascot is supposed to have a shy personality, you wouldn’t want one person to be jumping around and being outgoing and the next person in the costume being shy and playing the actual character. Consistency is key!
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