About
Françoise Balthazar - Voice-Over Artist & Accent Reduction Coach
My passion has always been to reach people through the power of the spoken word. It has been my pleasure to coach several hundred professionals and artists on their communication skills and accent reduction skills.
I am a professional actor and voice-over artist with 25 years’ experience. I have distinguished myself in interpreting both classical and contemporary roles in theatre, film, and television. In theatre, I have played some of the most iconic and dramatic roles such as Richard III, Lucrezia Borgia, and the Marquise de Merteuil from 'Dangerous Liaisons’. In addition, I have trained as a member of the Young Company at the Stratford Festival of Canada, and am an Honours graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School (Dean’s List) with a BA in theatre from the University of Ottawa.
My experience and expertise as an actor dealing with both heightened formal speech, and relaxed conversational speech, gives me an edge in coaching clients to improve their English pronunciation, their English rhythm and language patterns, as well as their overall communication flow speaking with a North American dialect. Ultimately this leads to speaking English with clarity, confidence, and conviction!
As a voice-over artist, I have been the principal voice of Mercedes Benz, Tide, Rogers, Woolite, Crystal Lite, and many more. I have also narrated the critically acclaimed true crime thriller ‘Wish You Were Here’ by John Allore and Patricia Pearson. As a VO artist, I have often had to deliver a variety of accents other than the North American accent, such as the British RP, Southern American accent, French Canadian accent, New York accent, and French Parisian accent. I know that learning the North American accent is a completely obtainable skill, even though English is not your native language. My skill set and knowledge will help you master the North American dialect, which in turn will help you with your professional and personal goals.
I love supporting and inspiring my clients to create their desired results in communicating clearly and effectively, and to witness their confidence grow as they acquire their new language skills. Contact me for on-line or in person accent reduction classes and accent coaching.