What to Look for in an Online Dialect Coach

How to Choose an Dialect Coach for Pre-emptive or Last-minute Online Accent and Dialect Training

When it comes to mastering an accent or dialect, working with a professional coach can make all the difference. Whether you’re an actor preparing for a role, a voice artist refining your craft, or someone looking to improve your communication skills, coaching is a valuable investment. But with so many options available, how do you find the right fit? In this guide, we’ll explore what to look for in an online dialect coach, and how to find the best dialect coach online.

1. Expertise in Both Dialects and Accents

Not all coaches are created equal. Some focus on refining your General American accent, ensuring that none of your regional traits slip through. Others expertly navigate the complexities of British dialects or the rich variety of European-infused accents.

A great coach understands the distinction between a dialect—the vocabulary and syntax that shape how we speak—and an accent—the way we pronounce words and the prosodic patterns that give speech its unique rhythm. And they make sure you understand it too.

2. Experience Working with Actors and Performers

If you're an actor, you need more than just someone who can rattle off word lists in the target accent. You want a coach who understands character work, script analysis, and how to make an accent feel natural rather than slapped on like a dodgy wig.

A dialect coach in Toronto (or any big city) might have experience with high-quality productions that shoot/are staged not just in Canada, but across the globe.

3. A Teaching Style That Works for You

Some people learn best by breaking things down technically (hello, IPA nerds!), while others prefer a more instinctive, feel-based proprioceptive approach. The best online dialect coach adapts to what works for you—whether that’s drilling sounds like a linguistics professor or sneaking in techniques disguised as fun.

4. A Sense of Humour and a Patient Approach

Let’s be honest: learning a new accent can be a bit ridiculous at first. You’re contorting your mouth, making weird noises, and possibly feeling like an absolute muppet. A good dialect coach online doesn’t just tolerate this—they embrace it! They’ll laugh with you (never at you) and keep you at ease, so you don’t freeze up every time you have to roll an R or glottalize a T.

5. Clear and Structured Online Coaching Sessions

Since you’re working remotely, a great coach should have a solid plan—whether that’s through video calls, recorded exercises, or sending you helpful notes and links instead of just waving vaguely on a Zoom screen. A dialect coach online should make the process feel organized but never rigid.

6. Knowledge of Different English Accents and Dialects

Whether you're aiming for a refined RP accent, a lively Glaswegian brogue, or a smooth Parisian French, your coach should know how to model it and gently guide you, actively listening for anything that might pull you out of the accent's zone of authenticity, then explaining what's happening/should be happening and how you can achieve it in a way that is effective for you.

If their approach to doing a Birmingham accent is just “listen to Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders,” you might want to keep looking.

A dialect coach trying not to stare too much at your mouth (and failing) while actively listening to your accent

Also, if a coach has a broad experience of having lived and worked in different places, being exposed to a plethora of accents (especially on a daily basis in a multicultural cosmopolitan city), that's definitely a plus. Dialect coaches pay attention not just to what people are saying, but how they are saying it—right down to hearing the way the consonants are being made ("I hear the Ds and Ts tapping on the teeth, dental plosives!") or seeing the way the pers

on's lips are shaping certain vowel sounds ("I see them pursing, lip corners protruding, jaw fixed!"). We try to do this subtly without staring too much.

7. Flexibility and Availability

Since this is online dialect coaching, flexibility is key. A great coach understands that actors have unpredictable schedules and won’t judge you for booking a last-minute session before an audition—or for practicing your new accent at odd hours while your roommate wonders what on earth is going on next door!

Many actors have a dialect coach on speed-dial for those unexpected auditions that pop up marked with "authentic accents only", egging you on to the challenge.

If you'd like to discuss how online coaching might help you in your career...

Book a chat with me