How to become A Drama Coach

• Drama Teacher
• Screen Coach
• Theater Coach
• Acting Coach

What do Drama Coaches do?

A Drama Coach would typically need to:

• Coach performers in acting theories, principles, and techniques to prepare them for onstage, motion picture, television, or musical theater productions
• Wear many hats in class; adapt the course of study and training methods to develop the competence of performers, according to their age, interests, and abilities, and interests
• Conduct reading to evaluate the acting capacity of performers; have a talent for reading people, all their utterances and body language; recognize the potential of the students
• Teach pronunciation, diction, and dialects using voice exercise, speech drills, explanations, lectures, and improvisation; use vocal and body language as mediums to demonstrate various acting styles
• Lead students in staging theatrical productions; coach performers to use stage and camera techniques, script analysis, voice projection, and character interpretation; teach courses in the history of dramatic arts, stage management, and directing
• Be familiar with a wide variety of literature; have the analytical skills to dissect scripts and provide notes to students
• Be skilled at zeroing in on what students need to improve their performance; provide constructive criticism to students; be honest with their students to develop and maintain a bond of trust
• Provide students with a DVD or SD card recording of their performances to review their progress; encourage students in furtherance of their intended goals
• Advise clients regarding wardrobe, grooming, and audition methods to prepare them for professional contacts by way of auditions and roles

Most of the work of a Drama Coach is done in the classroom or on stage and involves many different aspects of performing arts, from behind-the-scenes to on-stage work.

Drama classes are often provided in person; however, some coaches offer to mentor online over Skype or other video linkups with the widespread availability of high-speed internet. Drama Coaches may offer private coaching, group sessions, or a combination of both.

Movement is a crucial component in all drama classes. So, Drama Coaches typically wear loose and non-revealing clothing.

Drama Coaches who work in schools tend to have consistent daily schedules that may include after-school assignments, leading student clubs, and rehearsing for productions. Rehearsals may be held during school hours, but after-school rehearsals are more common, and Drama Coaches spend many evening hours at rehearsals.

Private Drama Coaches and on-set coaches have more unpredictable work schedules, including last-minute sessions with students facing an upcoming audition or directors in need of assistance while already in production. 

Non-traditional settings allow work on a non-profit basis. Experienced coaches may work in a professional capacity for studios and production companies.

You may be self-employed and work as a freelancer hired for an hourly or daily rate.

Some Drama Coaches have developed their unique methods and founded their schools.

Drama Coaches are generally employed by:

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools
• High Schools
• Colleges
• Universities
• Conservatories
• Private Acting Schools
• Nurseries
• Daycares
• Preschools
• Kindergartens
• Hospitals
• Prisons
• Community Centers
• Homeless Shelters
• Foreign Countries
• Television & Film Studios
• Production Companies
• Theatre Companies

Professional associations and organizations are critical for Drama Coaches interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.

• Prioritization of other activities by students who look at drama lessons as “playground time”
• Lack of creativity among students
• Language a barrier for teaching in countries where English is a foreign language
• Unwarranted and uneducated criticism by students
• Finding work; getting paid; getting results

When it comes to the performing arts, there is genuinely no better teacher than experience. Whether they set their theater career aside or continue it alongside coaching as coaching artists, most Drama Coaches are experienced theater professionals - veteran actors, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, or technical theater artists.

Acting is a craft, like all theatre; it requires a period of apprenticeship to learn it. Whether this is discovered in the classroom or through theater-making, it is learned entirely through doing. There is no theory of acting, only practice.

While almost all Drama Coaches possess a bachelor’s degree in theater arts, drama, musical theater, and production, those who work at a college, university, or conservatory level must have master’s degrees.

An in-depth appreciation of acting, teaching, directing, theater history, creating a curriculum, and a wide variety of literature will help you ply your craft successfully. Requirements vary by location, so contact the Department of Education in your place for relevant information.

Drama Coaches who choose to work in schools will need to complete teacher certification to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of their subject matter. Drama Coaches who wish to work as early childhood arts educators need a special license.

Successful Drama Coaches can go on to become the director of the school’s drama program. Those who are already coaching actors can specialize in fields such as voice and accent or movement coaching. Those passionate about the way theater changes and improves lives might be suited to careers as a nonprofit artist or drama therapist.

Drama Coaches with experience, creativity, and a zeal for teaching will have the best job prospects.

Holding a master’s degree with a performing art major will familiarize Drama Coaches with the many aspects of production essential to go up the career ladder. You will need to continue to train regularly to keep your body limber and free from work-related injuries.

There is always room for improvement, especially in the field of performing arts. Professional organizations offer membership, which includes workshops, networking opportunities, and a platform to showcase your skills.

All the World’s a Stage

Drama Coaches are versatile - they take on students across a range of ages and experience levels. These students may wish to foster their confidence on stage or interest in theater or become professional theater artists with a breadth of training and experience. In all cases, Drama Coaches help their students develop the required skills to act in, support, and lead theatrical productions.

Extraordinary creativity defines these teachers as being equally comfortable in either scenario, acting and directing on stage or working backstage on the lighting, costuming, music, and production requirements for putting on a play.

Content of Theater Courses

Drama Coaches teaching lower-level theater courses might focus on theater as play, tying in improvisation and theater games while introducing their students to diverse theatrical experiences from acting to playwriting.

They may opt to coach students in upper-level theater courses, which tend to be highly specialized. In that case, they split the content into broad subjects like acting, directing, theater history, technical theater, and playwriting.

At the conservatory or at a particular coaching level, Drama Coaches might break up a single subject like acting into several courses and approaches, including speech and voice, movement, repertoire, character research, auditioning, holistic acting techniques such as the American method Meisner technique, or Stanislavski’s system.

Why Hire a Drama Coach?

Students typically solicit the services of a Drama Coach for various reasons. They may want to brush up on their theatrical skills to apply to a drama school or prepare for an upcoming audition. They may want guidance to fix specific erroneous skills, pick up a particular one, or train for a special character role.

On a wider scale, some students may just seek to be reinspired and rejuvenated, to discover once again the exhilaration of being in the spotlight, and a restoration of their self-confidence as actors. As a bonus, students learn how to think outside the box, even if it is a slow but steady process.

A vital skill that Drama Coaches encourage in each of their students is to connect with the emotion deep inside the character they portray. Students of the performing arts must know what the character’s objective is in a scene - to win someone’s love, respect, sympathy, or anything else - and then they must go about achieving the objective with intense and unwavering focus. 

Theater - a Type of Sport

A Drama Coach should deal with a student’s training the way a Sports Coach deals with an athlete’s practice. You may consider a student of the performing arts as an aesthetic athlete. Theater classes should be highly practical and physical sessions because, after all, the genre of drama is the craft of physical action.

Balancing the Act

As a Drama Coach, you must be compassionate and empathetic to understand your group’s dynamics and the personalities of the individual students, their language abilities, and how to nudge each one along the path to achieve their potential and mastery of the subject. Even creative pursuits benefit from a certain amount of structure and preparation. You will need to keep a balance between play and work and maintain discipline and clarity.

You Might Coach Your Favorite Singer

Singers may hire you to teach them to perform at live concerts or in music videos; CEOs and other leaders may hire you to help them deliver their speeches effectively or improve other communications activities.

While most Drama Coaches mentor aspiring actors, some also coach directors on how to improve their direction of actors. Some Drama Coaches introduce their students to the entertainment industry, helping upcoming actors learn a few tricks of the trade and the audition and casting processes, key terminology such as “callbacks,” the role of agents, and essential industry organizations. The

Perks of the Job

A job as a Drama Coach offers you not only a reliable and stable income but the satisfaction of seeing your students express and grow in their creative talents. What’s more, the challenges you set them will help them evolve socially and academically.

Drama school students are so busy they have absolutely no time to either work to support themselves or audition for any acting jobs around town.

You are not a teacher but an awakener. You help students become tenacious, team-oriented problem solvers who are confident and can think creatively.

Give yourself 10 years to support yourself full-time. Enjoy the opportunities and options that come along! And most importantly, build relationships with your clients based on integrity and professionalism.