10 tips to be confident while giving auditions
Acting auditions can be daunting at first. But there are some tips to be confident during your auditions. Without an air of self-assurance and complete surrender to your skills, you will get jittery and might give the wrong impression to the casting director. It is therefore imperative that you master the art of self-confidence before going to the auditions.
There are ten effective tips for you to bank on:
Environment related tips:
- Be comfortable with the place where the audition is taking place: You have to literally own the room. Throw any past worries or incidents that happened just before you getting to the audition centre. Any other frustrations or self-doubts must be dispensed with. Once where such non-nourishing thoughts and doubts are purged out of your psyche can you really expect to be confident during the auditions.
- Maintain a good posture and make eye contact with the casting director: No one wants to work with a slouched person who oozes depression and anxiety. So, presenting such a portrayal of yourself in front of the casting director when you meet him/her for the first is the worst thing you can do. So, keep your back erect and field a radiant smile as you walk into the room. Just that first impression of you can guarantee some brownie points to capitalize on. This will show someone who is fun to work with.
Tips pertaining to your performance
- Be absolutely confident with your lines: You must be so comfortable with your lines that you must be able to recite your lines even in your sleep. Uncertainty germinates when one is underconfident about his/her abilities. So, read your lines thoroughly, understand the context behind those lines, and go through the overall storyline if possible. Know where you belong in the scheme of circumstances, and prepare accordingly.
- Know why the scene is happening at a particular moment: Familiarizing with the dynamics of your character is the first step to resolution. So, see why the scene that you have chosen or been provided with is happening at a certain point. Can it happen before or after? Then go more in-depth and analyze whether you really need to be part of that scene, and if so, how do you influence the circumstances? Getting to these answers can initiate a domino sequence by pushing the first domino. Here, each domino represents the stages of your confidence levels. As the dominoes topple, your confidence level rises.
- Look for ways to be silent in a certain scene: Silence adds layers of subtlety to your character, and of course, the casting director would prefer an actor who can convey whatever he/she wants to say through facial expressions over someone who blurts out unnecessary dialogues. Most of the accomplished actors use this technique and bowl over the audience with subtle expressions. On the other hand, actors who rely on too much exposition through bombastic dialogues usually get typecast and have less withering space when it comes to being versatile.
- Find positive sides to characters with negative shades: Confidence stems from the inner assurance that you will be able to find nuances in any given role and will channel your originality and creativity through that character. So, going against the wave of expectations by springing a surprise on the casting director is a sure shot way to get into his/her good books. Add a twist to the character’s portrayal by subverting stereotypes and norms. Give an emotional side to a serial killer by portraying him as a remorseful man chastising and rebuking himself for all the harm that he has caused to other people. When he is arrested for his crimes, show him gracefully accepting the retribution meted out to him.
How to manage difficult emotions during and post auditions
- Loosen up to ease the accumulated tension: Regardless of who the villain is in the movie you are acting in, your personal villain during the auditions is your anxiety. If you are an extroverted personality, you could relax and rejuvenate yourself by chatting with the other actors and technicians in the arena. This will help you gain different perspectives about the story and will also enable you to understand that the others in the room are just as nervous as you. This will give you a semblance of calm and will allow those nerves to settle down. Instead, if you are an introverted personality, don’t force yourself to mingle with other people. It could add fuel to the fire of anxiety in your head, and will only make you more nervous. Focus on your character, repeat your lines and just silently breathe deeply, if that’s what you love.
- Take part in a mock audition: It’s highly recommended that you put yourself through the grind beforehand to acclimatize to the environment and the roller-coaster of emotions that will haunt you during auditions. There are many online resources to do this, but you could opt for some real-life experience by asking your friends or family members to co-operate. When you take such an initiative, try to make a note of the common problems that afflict you, and keep working on the elimination of those problems. You will surely see an improvement in every successive mock audition.
- Meditate and listen to soothing music before getting to the audition: Deep breathing, meditation and listening to comforting music can get your monkey mind to calm down and focus prudently on the pertinent matter at hand. Otherwise, it will start running through all possible worst-case scenarios with the speed of a supercomputer. So, to not get tense and panicky, meditate a few minutes before the audition.
- Finally, remember that you always have other opportunities waiting for you: Doing badly in one audition is not a death sentence for your career ambitions, and you will always get more chances if you keep networking and working on your craft religiously. This very thought can soothe your mind and make you more confident. This will also help you be more experimental, and you may even toy with the dynamics of your character a little bit. Exuding confidence is key to bagging any job, and it’s no different when it comes to acting.
