8/13/2019 So You Want to Be a Dialect Coach

1/2

DIALECT COACHING &DESIGN BY AMY STOLLER

!www.stollersystem.com !

Member: Voice and Speech Trainers Association

So youre interested in becoming a dialect coach. Perhaps you enjoy mimicking other peoplesaccents, or doing impressions. Maybe you are in a degree program in linguistics (or already havea linguistics degree). You think it would be fun to have job that takes that advantage of your

special ability. Please think again!If being able to own your own home, save for retirement,go on yearly vacations, dine at nice restaurants, and other things you may associate with successare important to you, a private practice in dialect coaching is not for you.

Most accent/dialect coaches with a private practice have to combine that practice withsomething else in order to make a living. Examples include speech-language pathology, safe

vocal production, public speaking for non-performers, improvisation for corporate team-building, EFL/ESL, and accent reduction (a term I dislike; its inaccurate and misleading) forthose whose accents, whether foreign or regional, hinder them in effective communication withthe people they most need or want to reach.

Many dialect coaches have academic careers, with a private practice only as a sideline. (One of

the most successful private practitioners I know of actually resumed his academic career about20 years ago.) These days, however, there are more applicants for academic positions than thereare positions to go around, and tenure is very hard to come by. There are no easy answers.

My own practice is primarily in the performing arts. Although I do enjoy working with non-performers, my passion is for working with actors, directors, and writers. I combine myaccent/dialect work with other aspects of speech and text work, including dramaturgy. I have

been working in professional show business for more than 35 years, primarily as an actor, butalso as a director, dramaturge, and in various other capacities. And I began establishing myreputation as a dialect coach over many of those years before deciding to take my coaching

business from a sideline to a full-time career.

I think its important to ask yourself why you want to do this. What is yourpassion? Whodo you want to serve? Are you truly committed to helping themso much so that you are willingto make considerable sacrifices to do so? Most importantly, could you possibly be happy doingsomething else? If the answer to the last question is yes, I urge you to pursue that somethingelse instead. But assuming you really do have zeal for this work, and the utmost respect for it,and you know whom you want to serve: What sort of training do you need?

There are degree programs designed specifically to teach voice and speech professionals to trainothers for theatre, film and television. Among the best are graduate courses at the CentralSchool of Speech and Drama (London), York University (Toronto), Northwestern University(Evanston, near Chicago), Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), and the NationalInstitute of Dramatic Art (Sydney).

There are voice and speech courses for actors and singers in undergraduate, graduate, andconservatory programs. There are speech-language pathology degrees. There are specializedcourses of ongoing training, in which you can eventually be certified, such as Linklater,Fitzmaurice, Lessac, and Knight-Thompson. There are other related disciplines (such aslinguistics), all at least potentially useful. I strongly recommend a thorough grounding in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), if you do not already have one, although there are somecoaches who work successfully without this.

8/13/2019 So You Want to Be a Dialect Coach

2/2

DIALECT COACHING &DESIGN BY AMY STOLLER

!www.stollersystem.com !

Member: Voice and Speech Trainers Association

But if your interest is in working with performers, there is one aspect of your training that youmust not overlook if you wish to be effectiveand to do no harm. That is to acquire trainingand experience in the branch of performing arts you wish to serve.

If you want to help actors, you mustlearn to act, and you mustwork professionallyas an actor. Without a thorough, innate understanding of a performers needs, you simplycannot be an effective performers coach. I do not know of any reputable, effective performersdialect coach who lacks training and experience in performance.

You are welcome to peruse my website for more information. I especially recommend myBookshelf and my Links page, which includes a link to Internet Resources for Voice and SpeechProfessionals, the page I edit, as an officer of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association(VASTA). I urge you to consider joining VASTA yourself, so that you can take advantage of itsmany resources, including our annual conferences, bibliographies, newsletters, and our bi-annual journal, The Voice and Speech Review. There is also a professional index of members,

searchable by last name and by geographic location. All of these are available through theVASTA website, www.vasta.org. Membership is inexpensive, and entitles you to add your ownlisting to the professional index at no additional fee. Its a good deal; I often receive clientqueries from this source.

Finally, dont forget that if you are set on establishing a private practice, no matter what itsfocus, it is best to learn as much as you can about the basics of starting and running a business(any sort of business) in order to succeed.

Best of luck in your quest,

Amy Stoller

November 3, 2010