HOW TO AUDITION BETTER:
Six Ways to build the Audition Mindset
By Charlotte Thornton
Auditions can be highly pressurised situations. If auditions are scarce, we’re under pressure to make the most of the opportunity. If we’ve not booked in a while, we may feel a pressure to show our agent we’re worth representing. Sometimes the pressure is the practical one: bills need to be paid. Or the emotional one: we want to prove we are good. Unhelpfully though, this pressure (perceived or real) causes us to not perform at our best. So how can we create and maintain an optimum state so we can truly be creative and in flow, no matter what?
Here are my SIX ways to build the Audition Mindset
PREPARE
Sounds like a no brainer, and I am sure all professional actors will have prepared their sides, but have you also prepared for the interview chat? With some research we can move forward from awkward small talk to connecting and building relationships. People want to work with people they get on with. We need to show that, as well as show our talent. Good relationships are the foundation of a most long running careers.
MENTAL REHEARSAL
I’m not talking about rehearsing the piece. Again, you’re a pro – this is a given. I mean using mental rehearsal, often referred to as visualisation to lay down the mental imagery for your perfect audition. Most often we are dress rehearsing disaster. It can be helpful to think about what might go wrong so we can make further plans, but our focus should always be on things going right.
PEAK STATE
Peak state, often referred to as being in flow, is a state of balance and harmony. It is freeing and creative. It is the opposite of stress. Pressure tends to shift us into stress. Now, of course we’re going to have some adrenalin – that’s part of the fun. But when it tips into stress then we are in no state to recall lines, take risks, or be creative. Stress puts our bodies into the fight, flight or freeze response, this is not ideal at auditions. And, long term, creates illness.
CONNECT
We so often go into the audition room as if we were taking a test. A test that only one person can pass. Holy moly, that’s a tough test! This idea of a test also moves us into a state of stress, which as we’ve seen is less than ideal. Furthermore, stress makes us focus too much on ourselves. We become hyper aware of what we are saying and doing, and the inner critic is not impressed. This makes us even more self-conscious and less in the moment. To master the chat and the read we need to be able to get in the moment, connect to the material, the character or the panel. When we focus on connecting, rather than ourselves, we move out of stress and into the moment.
BELIEVE TO ACHIEVE
As actors, self-belief is the most precious thing we possess. If we don’t have it, we need to build it. Once we have it, we need to maintain it and guard against any thoughts that destroy it. After an audition we often make up a story about how we perceive it went. This can become a fact or belief to us over time. So – if the story is a negative one it will eat away at our self-belief. Then, at the next audition, we find ourselves less confident, more anxious and on the back foot. This starts a negative spiral which can be hard to come back from. In essence, what we think after each audition is as important as the audition itself.
POWER HABITS
One we learn the set of systems that ensure we are prepared, focused, relaxed and creative (in peak state) then we have a routine. Repeat this you will have a power habit. Like muscle memory we can train our brain to get into a peak state simply by repeating what we always do to get into that state. Reinforcing the connection between these activities and feeling at our best, means we can become experts at reproducing the peak state whenever we want to.
Mastering the ability to perform at your best under pressure, the audition mindset, is key to the long-term success of your career – and to your happiness as an actor.
If you are interested in finding out more, I will be discussing these concepts and other tips and ideas at my talk on the Audition Mindset, with The Actors Pad on Thursday 16th January, 4pm-5.30pm.
If you'd like to book a place on the above AUDITION MINDSET seminar with Charlotte Thornton please send an email to:
contact@theactorspad.com
You can also get hold of a copy of Charlotte's book 'TALENT ISN'T ENOUGH' and find out more about actor mentoring by visiting her website on the link below.
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