7 Ways to Be Less Nervous and More Confident During Auditions
Confidence is the magic ingredient for an actor entering an audition
(By Tonya Tannenbaum)
(Photo: Christian Buehner | Unsplash)
Go ask any salesperson. Confidence is one of the magic ingredients for making a sale. If you do not truly believe in what you’re selling, it’s hard to get anyone to buy.
Actors are salespeople, too, in a way. The buyers are the casting directors, film directors, producers and product executives who make the casting decisions.
Confidence is the magic ingredient for an actor entering an audition. You can be attractive and well-trained, be if you lack confidence, you probably won’t have much success.
If you struggle with confidence in your auditions, here are 7 ways to boost your swag:
#1: Accept Your Fear
(Photo: Cottonbro | Pexels)
Before your audition, greet your fear. Smile at your fear. Tell him to have a seat and offer him a drink. Accept that he is always going to show up when you have a big audition.
Then, look fear in the eyes and tell him that he won’t stop you from giving an awesome audition!
#2: Rigorously prepare
Develop some muscle memory. Practice your audition over and over again. Get off-book.
To put it another way, it’s easier to be confident in what you’re doing when you actually do know what you’re doing.
#3: Arrive early
Arrive early to the audition location. Be ready ahead of time, if it’s a virtual audition. Give yourself a chance to breathe, to center yourself and to settle in.
Have you ever felt confident about what you were doing when you felt rushed?
#4: Don’t audition for the job
(Photo: Cottonbro | Pexels)
It may sound counterintuitive, but never audition just to get the role. That places way too much pressure on this one audition.
Instead, just be amazing and walk away. Because, if you’re amazing, you may not get the role, but the casting director will remember you for a future role.
#5: Greet them and make eye contact
The people in the audition room are not the scary monsters that used to hide under your bed, when you were a kid. They are ordinary human beings who happen to evaluate talent. They want you to succeed, so there is no reason to be frightened of them.
Before your audition begins, make brief but firm eye contact with them. Recognize that they are ordinary people, just like you!
#6: Have fun
No one’s going to chop your head off if your audition doesn’t go well. You won’t get arrested. The sun will rise tomorrow.
Keep a positive attitude and have a good time. Your audition is not the end of the world. It’s just one of many auditions.
#7: Have a poker face
When you exit your audition, you may feel dejected, if it didn’t go well. But never let that feeling show up on your face.
You cannot leave behind the impression that you’re unsure of yourself. Smile, and leave with your head held high. Put on your poker face!
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