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.
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
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