• €55 or 2 monthly payments of €27.50

The Accent Challenge: Accent toolkit for Actors. 5 accents

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The Accent Challenge is the most fun, affordable, comprehensive and practical accent program for actors available online.

Put together over 22 years of experience coaching individual actors all over the world, and in productions for HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Apple TV and more, this is program is for you if you want to really feel confident, comfortable, and creative, all while speaking in a way entirely different from your day to day life.

We cover 5 accents:

British RP (heightened and contemporary)

General American

New York

Australian

AND an accent of your choice.

You get lifetime access to the skills, materials, templates and resources you need to tackle these and any accent in the future.


Want personal feedback videos from Holly?

Options available when you sign up

Want a sneak peak?

Course trailer

You can expect to work hard, laugh hard, and dramatically improve your skills throughout the month.

About my pricing

My values

I do not believe actors should have to pay a fortune for good training. So, I've put together a program that provides TONS of information for a very affordable rate. By signing up for this course, you're helping me keep rates affordable for everyone.

This is already an expensive and challenging industry to be a part of, and I don't think only performers who come from an affluent background, or who are already working should be able to access training that will open doors and create opportunities. So, it's one small way I, and you, can make an impact. Any help spreading the word is greatly appreciated.

Who am I?

Holly Renaut

I wear a lot of hats in this industry, and I've been working with actors like you for 22 years now. I've worked with thousands of actors all over the world, from those starting out to Oscar nominees, and absolutely every level in between on stage, screen, in the studio, and in workshops and retreats all over the world.

Most recent production: I was the dialogue and acting coach on the HBO number 1 hit: When No One Sees Us. (Cuando Nadie Nos Ve)


What to expect

This program covers 5 different accents, and is designed for you to work through over a one-month period, but you can also go at your own pace if you want. There are 5 full classes per week.

  • Week 1: British RP (both heightened and contemporary)

  • Week 2: General American

  • Week 3: New York and Australian

  • Week 4: An accent of your choice


You'll have permanent access to everything, and trust me, there's a LOT. So, work at your own pace and come back as often as you'd like!

Introduction to Accents: The most important day of this program

A quick message from Holly
Preview
Introduction to Accents
Preview
Intro to Accents: Meet your mouth
Preview
The mouth exercises
Preview
Interesting links and articles
Preview
Today's tasks
Preview

RP day 1

Message from Holly
Maggie Smith
Benedict Cumberbatch
Joanna Lumley
On to today's class, but first...
Speeches for RP
Today's class
Today's tasks
RP consonants.pdf
voiced and voiceless sound chart pdf for download
Consonant Specificity exercise.pdf

RP day 2

Greetings from Holly
Today's class
Today's tasks
RP R replacement sounds
Rp vowels-monophthongs
A bonus listening

RP day 3

Hello on day 3
Today's class
Shhh... Accent lip reading.
Today's tasks
Diphthongs and other sounds.m4a
Holly's RP posh chart.pdf

RP day 4

Happy day 4 lovely RPeople
Today's class
Bonus listening. (Highly recommend!)
Today's tasks
RP day 4- rhythm and stress.pdf
Tongue twisters and nursery rhymes.pdf
Answers to yesterday's accent lip-read

RP day 5

Intonation time!
Your final RP class: Intonation
Wrapping up RP
RP speakers list.pdf
RP day 5- Intonation.pdf
Intonation listening challenge
Saving Mr Banks intonation.pdf
Imitation game intonation.pdf
Downton Abbey intonation.pdf
Stephen Fry intonation.pdf
Would you like some Feedback?

Listening challenge answers

Answers

General American day 1

Welcome to the USA
American Monologues.pdf
Today's class
On vocal fry
Observation/listening recommendations
Today's tasks

General American day 2

Consonant day
Today's class
Today's tasks
General American Consonants
Hard R listening activity
Listening: podcast recommendation

R listening answers

R-listening answers

General American day 3

Happy General American day 3!
Today's class: vowels
General American vowels.pdf
How it sounds to foreigners 1
How it sounds to foreigners 2
Reference: Brian Williams
Today's tasks

General American day 4

Diphthong day!
Your video today
Today's tasks
Tongue twisters
Diphthongs, can vs can't
RP:Gen American word comparison.pdf

General American day 5

Last day of General American
Today's class
Joining words exercise
General American connection, rhythm, intonation pdf
Newsroom clip
Would you like some Feedback?

New York day 1

Welcome to NY!
Your class
Today's tasks, and getting that NY state of mind
NY placement, vibe, consonants
New York references.pdf

New York day 2

New York day 2
Your class
Today's tasks
New York vowels, rhythm, intonation
Would you like some Feedback?

Australian day 1

Welcome to Australia!
Step one
Step two
Step three
Australian Accent References
My Australian Detective work
Step four: interview with an Aussie. Your tasks

Australian day 2

Aussie day 2
Today's class
Today's tasks
Australian placement, vowels
Answers- My Australian Detective work

Australian day 3

Final Aussie day!
Today's class
Australian diphthongs
Would you like some Feedback?

Your choice day 1

Let's start!
Your video class
Accent reference guide
Template: References for your accent

Your choice day 2

A new day!
Your video today
Culture and placement guidelines
Template culture and placement.pdf

Your choice day 3

Your choice day 3!
Your video today
Consonants Template
Helpful Links

Your choice day 4

Week 4 day 4
Your video today
Vowels template

Your choice day 5

Final day of week 4!
Your video today
Template: Stress, rhythm, intonation.
Would you like some Feedback?

Wrapping up

A final message and video
The Accent Challenge is for you if you want to see dramatic improvements

What are people saying?

"I've encountered a few Dialect Coaches, but Holly is the best. Her knowledge is fantastic, but it's her method of getting the information across that makes it really understandable, and ultimately gives me belief that I can do the same. Her attitude and demeanor makes you feel she's really on your side. I can't recommend this course enough."

Coleman

IMDB

"After completing the Accent Challenge, I feel much more confident in ALL accents, and more excited rather than scared. Holly makes these sessions so much fun and enjoyable it doesn't seem like a hard task at all! Before learning accents with Holly I was so scared of doing it 'wrong' but she reminded me to have fun with it and laugh at the mistakes because that's the only way we'll learn! I'd recommend the challenge and Holly to everyone!"
"I had wanted to develop my accent skills for ages, but never felt I had a reliable method to do it myself. Holly's month-long workshop helped me build a framework to approach accents, and also helped me take the whole thing a little less seriously, and just enjoy the process. The feedback was always timely and very specific, which really helped me focus on specific areas to work on. I loved getting the daily emails and approaching a different accent each week, and at the end of it I feel like I can bring my new skills to other accents on my own."

Kate Sketchley

Spotlight

Holly is an amazing instructor, wonderful personality, very patient, and she has the best ears ever (many native speakers can't even tell you what you're doing wrong, but she can). Lastly she is fun. SUPER fun! 

Alessandra

IMDB

Frequently asked questions

What is the time commitment?

About an hour per weekday, plus 2 hours of extra time to rehearse and practice. There are no classes over the weekend, so you can happily catch up then if you fall behind! 

Can I do this course if English isn't my first language?

Absolutely, although to get the most out of it, you'll need at least around a B2 level of English so that you can focus on the accent and not the language. 

Can I get feedback?

At the end of each section, you'll see a Feedback option available to you. You'll also be able to select these when you check out!

But seriously, I'm really bad at accents... is it even worth it?

Trust me when I say you won't regret it. You're likely not nearly as bad as you think you are, you just don't know how you learn them yet. But you will. I promise!

How do you learn an accent? I listen and repeat but it doesn't seem to work.

That's because accents are complex things, and making them believable is far more involved than "listen and repeat". My method is based in linguistics, developing your ear, attention to detail, physicality, anatomy, neuroscience, and 20 years of experience and trial and error. It works.