Types of roleplay

Roleplay approaches

Intention then Action

1. Think about how the character would respond. What would they try to do?
2. State it to the GM what you'd like to try to accomplish and why
3. GM and player decide on an appropriate skill/action to use mechanically, as well as the circumstances of the DC check.
4. see Orphaned_Skill_Checks for some additional context

Roll then Roleplay

1. Nothing sucks more than a great roleplay sequence, then to roll like crap and your attempt fails.
2. I want to adopt a roll then roleplay baseline where characters "fail forward" when rolls come up shitty.
3. Following #3 above: once the DC and appropriate skill is sorted out, the result will determine our endpoint.
4. Next, comes the fun part of roleplaying how you get from point A to point B in your failed attempt.
5. see : Failing_Forward for some reassurance
6. The same applies to a success too - the roll determines the endpoint but we roleplay the path traveled.
7. Successes and failures should both have like-amounts of "screen time" and satisfaction.

Style of Roleplaying

Performative Roleplay

This is stage improv. You know your character, their mannerisms, and you can become them in your reaction. Impeccable improv is difficult to do for most people, but being unflappable in your portrayal of the character is the lofty goal of this end of the spectrum.

Even better if you can be "in character" alongside others who might not be, and you can slip in and out of player chat and character dialog. Again, lofty goal but can be fun as hell if the person can act and made a over the top meme character.

Descriptive Roleplay

This is just a 3rd person narrative description of the character's actions and/or internal motivations. It can be dry, simple, or vividly colorful and performed in it's own way. Your acting is more the part of the narrator rather than the character, and it's a form of acting in it's own right. There is a lot to play with in vivid descriptions and dialog.

A good analogy is you are acting out the comic book page rather than playing that character's part in the movie scene. You'll still be describing how they leap to the side, how the thing smashing down affects them, and the catchphrase they use. Similar to how you'd use different comic book speech bubbles to give context to the dialog, you'd describe the manner in which they say it.

Find your balance

Some people focus on a strong description, some people play around with the fun ideas, or you might utilize ideas out of the table banter from the other players. Sometimes you'll slide between performative and descriptive throughout a scene, and sometimes even mid-sentence.

The underlying factor is your familiarity with the character and the back and forth with the GM and other players in the scene. It's whatever is most comfortable for you, all the different styles mesh together surprisingly well.

In my experience, I've found descriptive roleplay serves as the main backbone for most of the game. Some well-placed well-acted performative characters can be some great highlights along the way. Don't let IRL skill at acting get in the way of enjoying the game :)

More information

Infodump:Types_of_roleplay