The Benefits of Remote Training in the VO Industry

Learn the benefits of remote training and why Edge Studio Owner and Founder David Goldberg says training remotely is actually BETTER than training in-person.

The unique thing about being a voice actor is that typically, no one sees you.  In other words, voice actors, directors, and clients usually work together remotely. You, as the voice actor, record from your home studio while a producer patches in to direct you.  So training remotely is better practice for the real world and provides significantly more applicable training.

Sometimes voice over students claim that coaching by telephone or Skype will be less effective than working with a coach face-to-face in a studio. Well for those students, it’s even more critical that they understand the benefits of remote training and learn how to be directed remotely so they’re adequately prepared for when they’re hired and directed remotely. After all, in the modern voice over marketplace, the vast majority of jobs will be recorded remotely.

It’s simple: turn on your speakerphone and set it beside you. Or use Skype or Zoom or whichever software your coach prefers.  Yeah face-to-face is nice; but if you travel to your coach you will both still be looking at your scripts rather than each other the whole time anyway. So avoid the commuting time (psssst, use that extra time for extra practicing!) and avoid any commuting costs (and use that extra money for more coaching, or better marketing, or new equipment, or for a celebratory meal out when you book your first job!).

All this said, there’s a more important benefit to remote training: at Edge, we can match you to the coach who is best for you rather than being limited to coaches within your location.  Example, interested in audiobooks? Arguably, the best audiobook coaches in the world work out of our New York City studio complex (looking at you, Carol and Johnny!). So why train with anyone else?

Voice actors have the ability to live anywhere in the world and can continue to work with their clients. Because a client remotely directing you in a session doesn’t care where either party is; the client emails you the script and listens to you while you record, providing direction.

And all this said, there’s an even more important benefit to remote training. Because once you’re comfortable being directed remotely, the world is your oyster; you can market to anyone, anywhere in the world. Thus you can choose to begin your career by targeting local companies in Kalamazoo Michigan, or expanding your career by targeting self-guided tours of museum exhibits throughout Europe.

And then there’s the most important reason to train remotely: work from within the comfort of your own home (studio). The more comfortable you are, the better you’ll sound, and the more work you can book.

The point is that voiceover is all about hearing … more often than not, no one will see you. So you should unquestionably have remote voiceover training before booking any jobs, so you are better prepared for remote-directed recording sessions.

To learn more about Edge Studio’s remote coaching options, click here!