It was almost serendipitous how everything started coming together for the creation of Mastering Your General American Dialect, the 18-episode flagship course brought to you by The World of Voice.
The first person to join the team was Eyal Heyne Galli, a client who had succeeded in mastering the General American dialect himself. Eyal was not only interested in the process; he was good at getting information out of Joy’s head!
So, we decided that a beautiful format for the course would be Eyal interviewing Joy about the work and the way she teaches, then going to the worktable so that students could see this in practice. It would allow online students to experience the work as it happens with a variety of clients.
Joy chose clients who would exemplify certain cultures, challenges and different ways of learning to participate (live!) in the online course. From different backgrounds, with unique accents or approaches.
She wanted every student to be able to find someone in this group that they could identify with. So that they would feel like they could ‘almost hear’ their own voice.
The challenge
From the start, the challenge was to make the course interactive, while meeting the needs of a variety of clients from different backgrounds.
How do you make a series of classes that lead people through a process that is personalized to them — in an online format?
“I realized that I was imagining people being able to sit in on my sessions with other clients. That if they could be there in the room watching and listening while I worked with different clients, that they would be able to work through the course alongside them and still follow their own practice. They would need a workbook with exercises that they could practice each day. Along with a formulaic approach that allowed them to measure their own results and give them a sense of confidence in their own progress.
So, as we started doing this, we realized it was almost like watching a YouTube or a Netflix special. It was almost like tuning into a show for new episodes every week. And that’s why we call our sessions episodes, because this is really a show about learning the general American dialect. And as performers, we’re bringing all our skills to get them interested and engaged. It’s a show you want to tune into.”
Inclusivity and equality
World of Voice is passionate about creating a global community of online learners and unlocking the extraordinary you.
Joy recognized that students learning the course will not all sound the same using this dialect. Our team believes that everyone has a unique identity, it’s who you are and not how you speak. It is important to us that Joy’s techniques allow each person to find the dialect in a natural and organic way — and to make the dialect your own. The emphasis must be the speaker’s message, not their way of speaking. The emphasis is on being beautifully understood, not on getting it right!
As each student is empowered to make the kinds of confident connection they desire — no matter where they are in the world, or what role they need to perform — the World of Voice team hopes to contribute towards diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
“Let’s keep everything that’s unique and special about you and transform your voice into your most powerful asset”. Joy