Voice Work and the Acting Craft: Conversation with Georgina Onuorah

American Accent Coaching & the Actor's Craft: Interview with Alistair Nwachukwu

Curious about how I coach the American accent? Have a listen to this episode, which is an interview and mini accent-coaching session with Alistair Nwachukwu. Alistair is a UK-based actor and a recent LAMDA graduate who has been working with me on voice, acting and accents privately for some time. In this episode, we talk about his process for learning the American accent. Themes that come up are: 

• learning an accent is like learning a dance. You have to learn the steps first. We talk through what those steps are 
• Alistair talks about his process for approaching accents, which includes getting curious about environment, cultural context, phonetics and physicality 
• The intersections between accent work, character work and voice work
• I coach Alistair through the physicality of the accent to find more accuracy using his understanding of anatomy and character. 
• the importance of vocal intention to finding the resonance of the accent

Have a listen and see what you think! In addition to in-person coaching, I also have a digital American accent course that’s specifically designed for UK-based actors (which also comes with a live coaching component). It covers all of the material Alistair and I discuss and allows you to learn the accent in your own time. You can find out more about it at:

voiceandaccentcoaching.thinkific.com 

Or on the course packs page of: 

voicewhatmatters.com. 

American Accent Coaching & the Actor's Craft: Interview with Alistair Nwachukwu

Curious about how I coach the American accent? Have a listen to this episode, which is an interview and mini accent-coaching session with Alistair Nwachukwu. Alistair is a UK-based actor and a recent LAMDA graduate who has been working with me on voice, acting and accents privately for some time. In this episode, we talk about his process for learning the American accent. Themes that come up are: 

• learning an accent is like learning a dance. You have to learn the steps first. We talk through what those steps are 
• Alistair talks about his process for approaching accents, which includes getting curious about environment, cultural context, phonetics and physicality 
• The intersections between accent work, character work and voice work
• I coach Alistair through the physicality of the accent to find more accuracy using his understanding of anatomy and character. 
• the importance of vocal intention to finding the resonance of the accent

Have a listen and see what you think! In addition to in-person coaching, I also have a digital American accent course that’s specifically designed for UK-based actors (which also comes with a live coaching component). It covers all of the material Alistair and I discuss and allows you to learn the accent in your own time. You can find out more about it at:

voiceandaccentcoaching.thinkific.com 

Or on the course packs page of: 

voicewhatmatters.com. 

The Story behind the General American Accent Course Pack for Brits, my online video course

In case you haven't noticed, I have recently released my first online video course, The General American Accent Course Pack for Brits. In this episode, I talk about the inspiration behind the making of this course and what the course entails. 

Designed to be like a digital book/online course/ accent coach in your pocket, the course has over 3 hours of content and is broken down into 59 (short and easily digestible) videos that cover everything you need to know to authentically own a General American accent in your own voice, which you can watch in your own time, at your own pace. You also get a LIVE 30-minute coaching session via Zoom with me upon completion of the course. It's specifically designed for UK-based actors and coaches who work with UK-based actors. As an American accent coach who spent almost a decade living in London, a huge portion of my portfolio in both my drama school work and private coaching business has been coaching this accent to UK-based actors, and along the way, I have learned the typical pitfalls they can fall into. This course is the culmination of that experience. 

But why an online video course instead of a live virtual or in-person class? In this podcast, I talk about what inspired this course: namely-- my own personal love for online education, which allows me to learn at my own pace. I discovered this love while I was pregnant during lockdown and I took this amazing birthing class online that was a series of videos which I could watch over and over again. In the midst of taking that course, it suddenly occurred to me: this is a perfect format for accent training! 

Listen to the episode to hear more about my story and the course. If you'd like to purchase the course, go to voiceandaccentcoaching.thinkific.com or to the "Course Packs" page of my website at voicewhatmatters.com. 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]. 

The Story behind the General American Accent Course Pack for Brits, my online video course

In case you haven't noticed, I have recently released my first online video course, The General American Accent Course Pack for Brits. In this episode, I talk about the inspiration behind the making of this course and what the course entails. 

Designed to be like a digital book/online course/ accent coach in your pocket, the course has over 3 hours of content and is broken down into 59 (short and easily digestible) videos that cover everything you need to know to authentically own a General American accent in your own voice, which you can watch in your own time, at your own pace. You also get a LIVE 30-minute coaching session via Zoom with me upon completion of the course. It's specifically designed for UK-based actors and coaches who work with UK-based actors. As an American accent coach who spent almost a decade living in London, a huge portion of my portfolio in both my drama school work and private coaching business has been coaching this accent to UK-based actors, and along the way, I have learned the typical pitfalls they can fall into. This course is the culmination of that experience. 

But why an online video course instead of a live virtual or in-person class? In this podcast, I talk about what inspired this course: namely-- my own personal love for online education, which allows me to learn at my own pace. I discovered this love while I was pregnant during lockdown and I took this amazing birthing class online that was a series of videos which I could watch over and over again. In the midst of taking that course, it suddenly occurred to me: this is a perfect format for accent training! 

Listen to the episode to hear more about my story and the course. If you'd like to purchase the course, go to voiceandaccentcoaching.thinkific.com or to the "Course Packs" page of my website at voicewhatmatters.com. 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]. 

Voice Work and the Acting Craft: Conversation with Georgina Onuorah

This episode is part of a series where I talk with actors I’ve worked with about how they incorporate voice work into their craft. Georgina Onuorah is a London-based actress, singer and dancer. Her professional debut was playing Alice Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington at the National Theatre and she is currently the alternate Cinderella in the West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella . She graduated from ArtsEd in 2020, where I was one of her voice and speech teachers. During our conversation, Georgina had some profound insights about how voice work has helped her find her authentic center as a performing artist. 

Themes that come up in the conversation are: 

• How voice work and warming up can give you something positive to focus on in the moment before an audition and help you present yourself more confidently in moments that matter— like introducing yourself in an audition 
• Georgina’s definition of voice work: a kind of centering— a centering in yourself so that you can fully bring yourself to the table. This includes a physical centering, a vocal centering and a feeling of centeredness in the psyche. 
• The difference between how Georgina feels about voice work now vs. what she thought it was going to be in her first voice class. There is a misconception about voice work (even among some voice teachers!) that it’s about “correcting” your voice or the way you speak. Now Georgina feels it’s much more about truly discovering your authentic self through your voice and even your vocal history. 
• How spoken voice work and singing voice work interlink
• Georgina’s experience working on the Olivier at the National Theatre in London— an infamously difficult stage to work on vocally 
• working with mics
• the value of using text work on songs rather than focusing solely on sounding good 
• the balancing act of the musical theatre performer between three disciplines and how voice work can compliment and work with those disciplines because breath is the unifying factor in each
• Georgina’s voice warm up and how it adapts to her day to day needs before a show

This one is a super interesting episode for professional actors, musical theatre performers and enthusiasts, actors in training, or anyone who is interested in what the craft of acting is all about.