John works to get the best out of his students and expects nothing less.

I began taking voice over lessons with John Melley in September 2013 and am amazed at how far I have come since then. In my initial conversation with John, I mentioned how my goal was to eliminate my Boston accent to make my voice more suitable for radio or broadcast, however, John assured me that there would be a lot more than just that. In the two years that we have worked together, John has taught many tools of the trade in voice over including: how to turn my accent on and off, how to take care of my voice with proper stretching and breathing exercises, proper microphone technique, and how to read scripts for potential clients.

As previously mentioned, I had one minor goal going in, which was to eliminate my Boston accent, but John showed me that there are a lot more things to the business I want to be in. Each and every lesson John teaches me new techniques and when I leave each lesson I find myself identifying a new goal to set for myself based on what I have just learned.

John has shown me many “unconventional” exercises that have really shown an improvement in my work. One approach we took was using what is called the “power posture”. The “power posture” is a posture that has proven to increase your confidence when you stand in that position for 2 minutes. When trying it out with John I picked up a piece of copy and read it with ease and felt confident while doing it. To this day I use this posture whenever I need confidence, especially when it comes to getting ready for my weekly podcast. John has also showed me a hand eye coordination drill that allowed me to pick up a piece of copy in a quicker time than usual. The chart we use for the drill allows my brain to get working and allows me to pick up and understand what I am reading more easily.

John likes to keep the environment fun while we are working together and practice drills like these are what keep it fun. When I first started working with John I was very shy around him, but over time my comfort zone has grown with him and I see it growing with each passing lesson.  I’ve always thrived under a fun-working environment, which is why I feel I’ve thrived with John. He works to get the best out of his students and expects nothing less and due to that attitude, I have seen a major growth in my preparation for broadcast in the future.

Kevin W. Maggiore