How to Select an Acting Coach or School for Your Kid

Aspiring Kid Actors!

What to be Considered

• Your child will need a basic acting technique. How much technique depends on their age. While a younger child will do great with simple role playing and theatre /cinema  games, an older child (9 and up) can be introduced to basic acting techniques like short term objectives or asking the questions "Who What Where and When" when reading or practicing a scene.
• A good kid acting coach also helps children explore what makes them unique rather than teach them line readings and some other "tricks". This is especially important if you think your child is going into acting for the long run. You don't want them to pick up bad habits like just memorizing lines and blurting them out, mimicking or being too theatrical with exaggerated gestures that will take years to break down the road. A good kid acting coach helps children build the confidence in them to be “themselves” instead of trying to guess what casting directors want. 

1. Speech and Elocution

Developing the skill of clear and expressive speech, especially of distinct pronunciation and articulation.

• Actors, of all ages, need to be heard. At the least, they need to be able to speak clearly and audibly. If they are interested in stage acting, they need to be loud enough to be heard in a theater. For acting in front of a camera, their breathing should be normal while speaking lines and the words should be clear as far as possible. A good child acting coach should address any speech problems a kid has. 
• There's no need to take formal speech and voice classes, but a class that teaches a basic vocal and body warm-up will get them started on the right foot. Older child actors also need to be able to read well. Often, actors are given "copy" to speak at auditions (also known as a cold reading). A young actor will not be able to concentrate on the acting if they are struggling to read. A good children's coach / acting class will give older kids plenty of opportunities to do cold readings.

2. Memorization and Improvisation

Reading-age children who want to be an actor are expected to learn lines, so they should pick an acting class or a coach that includes scene study or monologues where they can practice memorization. That being said, casting directors don't expect kids to be perfect, so being able to use improvisation (Creating a scene and speaking without a written script)  is very helpful for children. Improvisation makes them unique in the eyes of casting directors, while giving them the confidence to make it up if they forget a line. Improvisation is even more useful with younger kids who don't learn lines at all and are basically just expected to be themselves.

3. Confidence

Although all the skills mentioned above are useful, the most important thing children can gain from a good acting coach is the confidence to be themselves. If they know what to expect when they walk into an audition because they've done it all before in class, they will be much more confident. If you want to pick a kid acting class, then be sure to select one that prepares them for auditions, lets them perform in front of others and gives them practice time in front of the camera. For example, they should learn things like how to find their mark on the floor while walking and write their name on a slate during on-camera auditions. 

If in doubt about acting schools, go for an acting coach who trains your kid on one on one basis

4. The Teacher should be a kid

Pick an acting coach or a school that lets kids be kids. This doesn't mean that a child acting class should be all play, but fun should definitely be incorporated in teaching... Or not only will your child not enjoy the class, they will start to think they have to behave like an adult when they audition, which is exactly what casting directors don't want to see. Directors and producers look for kids who can act, not kids who act like adults. Children have a natural ability to play believing it to be true and to really get invested in their imaginary games (something many adults lose when they grow up), so acting can be very natural and fun to them. The goal is to find a kid acting teacher that will teach them how to stay natural when they play in front of an audience (or camera) and not coach them a specific way to say a line or make a face, so look for acting coach / schools for kids that teach things like theater games, storytelling, role playing and mime.