When it comes to auditioning for a film or TV role, it is common for actors to have butterflies when the big day arrives. For many actors, auditioning is not the fun part, and they fail to do their best acting work because of a pure lack of confidence.
To help you along in building confidence so you are free to do your best work, here are 7 easy tips to greater confidence on your auditions.
1. Preparation is a must.
By the time you are getting auditions, you should already have taken classes and should still be taking them. Even so, for any given audition, it is very important that you prepare for that specific one if possible.
Just because you have a great deal of training and talent, it doesn’t mean that you can wing it. Extremely talented actors have their talent shine through because they do the work to get their concerns out of the way. So prepare!
Your confidence can be a weapon that works for or against you on auditions because subliminally it comes across anyway. If you prepare thoroughly, that alone will boost your confidence.
2. Remain calm, composed, centered, and peaceful.
On the day of the audition it is critical that you keep making yourself calm and composed and peaceful inside. It’s hard to get your act together when you are nervous and panicking all the time. Give yourself space and time to breathe and relax – don’t rush. The whole point is to get your other major concerns out of the way so you can concentrate on the work itself.
3. Keep focused.
One of the most common problems for actors is that they quit focusing on the job they are there to do and think instead about what the audition could mean for their career. They lose their focus on delivering the work and think about all the other extraneous stuff.
Do whatever technique work you need to do in acting class to be able to focus on delivering the work on the audition. A great audition technique class with Hollywood coaches such as Margie Haber, Ivana Chubbuck, or Brian Reise will help you with this.
4. Mingle and loosen up to ease your tension.
There’s no room for being uptight when your audition time comes. Get your nervousness out by chatting with fellow actors if you need to. See if you can loosen up by laughing a bit here and there.
Of course, if your personality is such that you need to be quiet to focus, then don’t do it. But if you tend to be a friendly outgoing person, then chat with other people. Know what works for you to ease your tension.
5. Do a mock audition or meeting.
This can be a big help because you simply practice how you’ll do it when you go in. Going through that and dealing with what comes can be a huge help toward helping you be relaxed when you go in.
If you are meeting with an agent, they may have you audition or simply talk. For this you will need to prepare answers to questions like “Tell me about yourself.” To prepare for this, you might consider doing one of our famous Agent Meeting Role Play sessions.
6. Breathe deeply and relax.
As in most things that are stressful and for good health in general, deep breathing is great. When you breathe deeply, it helps relax your body – let alone gives you air! When you do this, you relax, and your confidence can emerge.
7. Free yourself mentally.
One of the most important things when auditioning is being mentally prepared. What does that mean? It means to get out of your head and be present. Do whatever you need to do to get your worries out of the way. If you are worried you will be late for work, then call them ahead of time and tell them you might be late. Do whatever you can to free your mind up to not worry about anything else.
As you may have gathered, having more confidence on auditions is in great part getting all of the distractions – both physical and mental – out of the way so you can concentrate on doing your work.
If you have trained properly and are doing good work, then clearing the garbage out of your mind will help your natural inner confidence to emerge as you deliver a great audition.
Employing these basic tips will certainly be a plus to boost your confidence and having a successful audition.
Break a leg, Actor!