You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
Zig Ziglar
Practical one-to-one coaching from a working professional voice actor
Whether you’re just getting started in voiceover or you’re already working and want to strengthen a particular part of your performance or business, I offer focused, one-to-one coaching built around what you actually need.
I’m James Dooley, a Toronto-based professional voice actor with more than 20 years of experience. My work spans commercial voiceover, corporate and medical narration, IVR and on-hold, broadcast and other professional voice applications.
My coaching is practical, individual and grounded in real-world voiceover work.
Who I work with
New voice actors
If you’re considering voiceover professionally, we can work through the fundamentals and help you understand what the business actually requires — performance, equipment, recording, auditions, demos, representation and finding work.
Working voice actors
If you already have experience, sessions can be much more targeted: commercial reads, narration technique, audition performance, self-direction, recording workflow, rates, client communication or another specific area you want to improve.
What we can work on
• Commercial reads and conversational delivery
• Corporate and medical narration
• Script interpretation and marking
• Audition technique and self-direction
• Microphone technique
• Recording and editing workflow
• Home-studio setup and sound
• Demos and positioning
• Rates, usage and quoting
• Working with clients
• Building a sustainable freelance voiceover business
Every session is tailored to your experience and goals rather than following a fixed curriculum.
Online coaching
Private sessions are available online, so you can work from your own recording environment.
This is particularly useful for working on auditions, self-direction, microphone technique and your home-studio workflow because we can work with the equipment and environment you actually use.
In-person coaching in Toronto
In-person sessions are also available by arrangement from my professional voiceover studio in downtown Toronto.
You’ll be able to work on scripts and performance in a real recording environment and hear immediately how changes in interpretation, delivery and microphone technique affect the finished recording
Rates
Private coaching — 60 minutes
$150 CAD + HST
Three-session coaching package
$425 CAD + HST
Available online or in person in Toronto.
Not sure what you need?
Tell me a little about where you are in your voiceover career and what you’d like to improve.
We’ll use that to make the session as focused and useful as possible.
The Coach
James Dooley is a certified sound engineer and professional voice actor with 20+ years experience, including commercial radio producer (Jazz FM91, Classical 96.3, AM740), copy writer, and audio services manager for a prominent inflight entertainment company. James is the narrator of Breakneck Builds (HGTV/DIY Network) and Food’s Greatest Hits (Food Network), and voices major campaigns for brands including KAYAK, Budweiser, Red Bull, McDonalds, Honey Nut Cheerios, Mercedes, Dove Soap, and many, many more.
He’s also the POM “Impaled by a dolphin” guy.
Voiceover, scriptwriting, demo production, coaching – sure we do all that but… what about you?
It’d be great to hear from you – questions, advice, a good puff pastry recipe. We’re friendly, reach out any time.
We’re here for you.