Running auditions can be a handful and preparing for them too. Here are some tips for running and participating in an audition.
Preparing for an audition can be scary, even our actors get nervous! Here are some tips for auditioning:
- Know your lines. Learning lines can be tedious and take time, but if you have a friend, a family member, or even another actor to help you memorise, this can be invaluable. Sometimes it takes sitting down and reading them over again and again. Other actors like to write them out by hand or to record themselves reading the lines, listening to them over and over. There’s no right way, so you’ll have to find what fits for you.
- Make sure you know what you’re saying. If you’re not sure of a word or a line ask your teacher or someone else to clarify, also for pronunciation. It’s important you get the right tone or vibe of what you’re actually saying. Sometimes there is subtext – something else being said other than what is actually being said. Getting this subtlety can make all the difference.
- Practice saying your lines in various ways. This means you won’t be stuck or thrown off when you’re asked to read or react in a different way. You’re flexible. Also, you’ve discovered a different way of reading the role – there’s never one right way.
- Calming your nerves. Now that you’re well prepared, you know your lines… well now it’s time for the audition. Being nervous is completely normal before an audition or a show – it means you care. The most important thing is to remember to breathe. Often when we’re nervous, we forget to do this. Take deep, long breaths. This will help calm you. Drink water and know you’ve done your best preparing.
- Warming up your body and voice. There are many exercises you can do to warm up, and YouTube is a goldmine if you’re stuck. The actors’ tool is their body and their voice, so warming up properly can make the difference between an outstanding performance and an okay one – the performance simply won’t work if we can’t hear you. Vocal exercises can help with pronunciation too!
- Have fun! Auditioning can be fun too and it’s great practice for the future. And what is the worst that can happen? You don’t get the role? Oh well! There’s always next time. Take what you’ve learnt from the process and apply it to the next time you audition. Our actors have been rejected countless times, it’s inevitable, however, it’s the way you pick yourself up afterwards and keep trying that determines whether you succeed at anything. And if you get it, well, congratulations! But the most important thing is to enjoy the process, have fun and give it your all!