Hear, hear

Voice trainers try and bring out the best in a person’s voice. They teach one how to intonate, energise the voice and give it an expression.

The lowdown
Voice trainers try and bring out the best in a person’s voice. They teach one how to intonate, energise the voice and give it an expression. A voice trainer teaches aspiring voice artistes how to interpret copy (script) and modulate their voice according to a given situation (sad, joyous, excited) location, etc.

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In a call centre, a voice trainer trains students in US or British accents and eliminates regional accents

Clock Work
12pm to 2pm: Hold sessions with students
2.15pm: Lunch
3pm onwards: Work on script translations, dubbing and recording freelance voiceover assignments

The payoff
On an average a voice trainer charges about Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 for a six-week course

Skills/Traits
. Experience as a voice artiste
. Command over the language
. Knowledge of grammar
. Good communication skills
. Ability to change training content as per student’s requirements

The 21st century is all about the excitement of human connectivity and interactivity. The skill of voice training is right there at the centre of this

Arjun Raina, voice trainer and NSD alumnus

Getting There
There are no specific educational qualifications required to be a voice trainer. A basic graduate with good command over a language with a clear accent and sufficient experience in the field can become a successful trainer. A degree in linguistics is beneficial and can help one go higher up in the profession

Institutes
Indian
. Manohar Mahajan course in Voice Training, Mumbai
www.manoharmahajan.in/
. Nimble Foundation, Mumbai
www.nimblefoundation.in/
. Peach Communications, New Delhi
www.audiovisionary.net/peach_communications.htm
. Indian Voice Training Centre, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore
www.indian-voice-overs.com/voice-training.html
. InSync Studios, Conducted by Nandoo Bhende, Mumbai
www.insyncstudios.com/

International
. Words in Action, UK
www.wordsinaction.co.uk/
. Presenter Promotions, UK
www.presenterpromotions.com/home/home.html
. Estill Voice Training, Pittsburgh, USA
www.trainmyvoice.com/
. Voicetrax, San Francisco
www.voiceover-training.com/

Pros and cons
. It’s a great feeling nurturing new talent and passing on the knowledge one has gained after so many decades in the
profession
. Freelance options are easily available
. There aren’t any cons when you are in a career you really love