A question about studying with Nancy Wolfson

My friend Gregory Best was talking recently with my friend Kara Edwards about studying with Nancy Wolfson, who is not only Kara’s voiceover coach, but mine as well. Actually, if you’ve been reading this blog for the last 6 months, you didn’t need me to tell you that. I’ve written often about Nancy, and in my view, with good reason.

So, Kara mentioned to Greg that I’m studying with Nancy and he wrote me a very nice email with the following questions (which he has given me permission to quote here)…

Kara says that you have also taken class from Nancy Wolfson. What did you think? Did you feel you got your money’s worth from Nancy?

Here’s my answer to Greg…

Without a doubt, studying with Nancy Wolfson has been one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my voiceover career. The key reasons:

1. Nancy is plugged in to what’s really happening “on the ground” in the voiceover world in LA right now, especially in the commercial voiceover world. She has been a talent agent (she was Pat Fraley’s agent in the past), and today not only coaches all kinds of top talent who are booking commercial voiceover work all the time, she’s also involved in casting work. So, she knows what’s going on now. She’s not teaching something she learned 10 years ago, coasting on old, out-of-date information.

2. Nancy is one of the most searingly honest people you’ll encounter in this business. She’s a very decent, kind human being, but she’s willing to tell you the truth about what’s working, what’s not working and what needs work, as far as your sound, your demo and your reads. And, as I imagine you already know, finding someone who will tell you the plain truth is rare, especially among people you’re paying.

3. Nancy is terrific working with people at whatever level. She works with top pros, mid-of-the-bench guys like me, and even relative new-to-the-business folk.

4. Nancy’s instruction is extremely practical, put-it-to-use-today kind of stuff. She cuts through a lot of the myths and points out what works, what actually books and leaves aside a lot of the nice-to-know-but-not-really-practical stuff. Her instruction is clear, full of encouragement and enthusiasm. If you do decide to study with her, I don’t imagine you’ll finish a single session with Nancy in which you don’t understand more about how to better approach your voiceover work and career.

5. Nancy isn’t just about voice acting. She’s about business. She’s about helping you book work, or more work if you’re already booking work.
I hope this helps.

In the interests of full disclosure, if you decide you want to study with Nancy and you tell her that you are doing so because of me, I’ll get a free lesson from Nancy. So, if you don’t want me to get a free class, don’t tell her you learned about her through me or this blog.

Update: Stephanie has written an excellent post on Vox Daily about Voiceover Coaches. Well worth a few minutes of your time.