Greetings All:

I just completed Jonathan Altfeld's three-day "Finding Your Irresistible Voice" training in New York and wanted to post some of my thoughts. To put it succinctly, the training was fantastic. I've taken two of Jonathan's other seminars and simply can't get enough. On this go-around, the man has once again demonstrated his skills as a world-class trainer. That's the short version. Now here's a slightly more detailed review.

The focus of the seminar is, of course, on improving the quality of one's voice. Jonathan kicked off the process by spending some time explaining to the group the basic concepts of how the human vocal mechanism works and what are the components that make up a pleasing voice. We then engaged in an extremely effective session in which Jonathan gave personal attention to each of the attendees to identify their unique strengths and weaknesses. I was frankly amazed at the ease, rapidity, and precision with which Jonathan was able to zero in on each person's challenges and potentials. In my own case, he was able to identify three specific areas on which I needed to focus in order to gain the most improvement. To be blunt, he was absolutely right on all three.

We then spent the remainder of the first day and all of the second practicing various drills aimed at acquiring and/or strengthening various vocal skills. The drills themselves were generally quite fun and productive.

Finally, the third day was dedicated both to consolidating and reinforcing the major gains of the previous two days and to practicing some additional drills aimed at "fine-tuning" the skills we had acquired. During the drills on all three days, Jonathan would circulate among the various breakout groups and provide individualized feedback. His style of providing the feedback was invariably frank, yet always respectful and sensitive to the participants' feelings.

At the end of the three days, my own three problem areas were, I believe, far less problematic thanks to Jonathan's expert guidance. Although I'll need to practice the skills a good deal more in order to make this new way of speaking natural to me so I'll no longer have to think about it consciously, I now know how to do that, and it's not difficult. The bottom line: If improving your vocal quality is something that interests you, I would unreservedly recommend Jonathan's seminar. You won't be disappointed.

Aaron Spurling