Voice over training, coaching, mentoring, and scamming
Preliminary advice on ALL voice over training
Before following any voice over coaching, I implore you, your wallet will thank you later: please find out who will be training you.
Some of my voice over colleagues, casting directors and producers are very good coaches. Unfortunately, there's also a plethora of unscrupulous people on the internet who stare at your wallet, promising you the moon on the pretext of a glorious past in a profession vaguely connected to voice over work, a past which is often non-existent or half-invented. And trust me, I'm not exaggerating. Or rather, don't trust me and do a Google search: you'll find some gems...
It's simple: run away if you're promised the moon - a con artist will never tell you that voice over acting isn't for everyone, and maybe not for you. Even if your ego doesn't agree, choose honesty over flattery.
Are the coaches you are considering French voice actors ? Casting directors? Art directors ? Producers? What is their portfolio? Their reputation? Their credibility, their legitimacy in the business? Their experience? Their ethics? What do the people who have worked with them have to say about them? Does what they say about themselves correspond with what they have done?
Visit their website ((this is the homepage of my own voice over website), their Linkedin profile, their professional Facebook page, their Youtube channel, their Instagram and Twitter accounts... Are they sharing interesting links about the profession or are they just posting about themselves? Are they promising the goose that lays the golden egg, or are they honest in their approach and in what they say? If they claim to be successful voice actors, is this reflected by a prestigious and consistent portfolio that can be verified on their website or Youtube channel (for the record, you'll find my voice over Youtube channel here) ? If you can't find anything, why not? When you work, you show it. When you have nothing to show, you show fake awards, you lie about your popularity, in short, you rip people off. Do you really want to put your career in the hands of a dishonest person?
It's a bit of detective work, I grant you, but it's essential if you don't want to be ripped off by fairground clowns... and if you want to get the training YOU need.
I offer one-to-one voice-over coaching via Zoom, and also run voice-over courses. To find out more, please visit my page Voice over coaching.
I hope you've found this article useful, so be sure to share it with them on your social networks. I invite you to share your experience here and leave your comments, suggestions or questions - I'll do my best to answer them!
PS: by subscribing to this voice over blog, you will have exclusive access to new articles before they are officially published. It's free so make the most of it, subscribe now !
by 
I trained for 2 years in a school until the day I realised that money was all that mattered to them. I dropped everything because I asked for explanations about the content of my packaging.Then I got involved in music and now I have my own band, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed voice-over work - who knows, maybe one day I'll work again with people who are a bit more caring than those I worked with as a student.
There are indeed training courses that are factories, that accept all participants without audition, without any ethics. There are also courses in which the instructors have no credibility whatsoever - we won't name anyone, but they'll recognise themselves. I'm glad this hasn't put you off the profession completely!