Readers of my books will recognize the EAR as a highly specialized, lucrative tool actors can use to augment their incomes. Even non-actors have heard of the ear prompter through gossip that some celebrities use them on stage in front of live audiences.
If you’re not familiar with the ear prompter or know what it is, read this or watch this video.
The EAR is super useful, but is such a specialized skill that demand for live classes is usually pretty thin, making it the kind of thing that’s passed from actor to actor in private coaching sessions. Until now.
Enter Sean and Michelle Bradley, owners of The Green Room Studio in Chicago and accomplished pros on the ear prompter. Between them, they have literal decades of experience using prompters. I’ve worked with both of them on the EAR and have witnessed their expertise firsthand, so when I heard they put together a course to teach the EAR, I knew it was going to be good.
And it is. I’ll spare you the details and encourage you to check it out yourself, but here’s my take:
They cover literally everything.
From ear health to batteries, there was stuff in this course that EVEN I DIDN’T KNOW (and I’ve used the EAR for 25 years).
The latest equipment recommendations.
The right equipment is critical for success on the EAR. Changes in the ear prompter don’t come along often but when they do, the leap is often pretty huge like when we went from analog to digital recorders. Now there’s a new style of earpiece on the market that has changed the game once again. The Green Room’s ear prompter class covers it and everything else you’ll need, along with where to buy equipment.
Ear prompter hacks.
The market for the EAR is small enough that manufacturers don’t pour a lot of resources into it. As a result, actors sometimes have to develop a few workarounds to make everything run smoother, and the course definitely reveals ALL THE TRICKS. Again, I learned some new things, and I’ve spent thousands of hours working on the EAR.
Plenty of practice scripts.
Actors have always had to scour the internet looking for practice scripts when they’re trying to learn a new skill. When I wrote The Voice Over Startup Guide, I addressed this issue by including well-written practice copy. Readers loved that aspect of the book. Sean and Michelle did the same thing, so there’s plenty of opportunity to learn from actual, previously-produced scripts, and no need to find your own until you’ve gone through all the words provided in the course.
You’ll get feedback.
Online classes don’t often have a way for student actors to get feedback on their effort, making it hard to know what’s working and what needs improvement. But this ear prompter class comes with feedback from Sean and Michelle. Students submit their assignments and will get back helpful direction. It’s almost like being in a live class.
Get 2 months of live training for FREE
Most “bonus materials” in online classes aren’t much of a bonus at all, but one great thing about The Green Room’s ear prompter class is that it comes with entry into their amazing program called The Practice. It’s an ongoing community of actors who meet via Zoom to stay up to date on the markets in which they work, do weekly live assignments, benefit from guest speakers and coaches (like yours truly and other much more impressive people), as well as get general advice from experienced working actors. Honestly, being able to ask a question and get an immediate, well-informed answer is worth whatever the price of admission might be, which in this case is zero.
Honestly there’s so many benefits to being a member of The Practice that it’s best to read more about them here.