Voice coach
Peter Moody says:
I’ve been doing this for 11 years – although during the early part of my career I had to take other jobs to supplement my income.
I’ve coached many West End performers and even some X-Factor stars. And I’m afraid I’m not allowed to tell you who they are, so don’t even ask!
I started off coaching my peers or school plays and was teaching professionally by the time I was at university. From there, I built my client base through word of mouth and very little advertising. I have been very lucky because most of my clients approach me and I rarely need to go out looking for work.
I work seven days a week. Most weekdays I have a combination of private clients (I teach from my home studio) and also lecture at various workshops. Some of the workshops are for theatre/performing arts schools and some are for companies who wish to improve staff verbal communication skills. Speech and singing are very similar. During the evenings I teach individual clients until around 10pm. At weekends I work away from home at a theatre school and on Sunday evening I work with a new girl-band.
The best thing about my job is showing people that they can achieve things they previously thought were impossible.
My advice would be the harder you work the luckier you get! If you are interested in becoming a voice coach, make sure you understand as many schools of thought on the subject as possible. No matter how much you know, there are still others that know more so don’t ever stop developing new skills and opening you mind to new methods. Voice coaches are always judged on current results so make sure every voice you work with benefits in some way from your input and always be politely honest with clients.
