The Audition - Proving You Have Talent

By Tim Waddell

Now, Talent isn't something that can be easily demonstrated in 5 minutes. If you were an expert in fruit and vegetable carving and I gave you 5 minutes to prove it what would you be able to do? Not a lot!

You could show me pictures of work you had already completed and I might trust that you did it yourself. (Your resume) Or you could use those 5 minutes to impress me with a small part of what you can do. (An audition) By showing me that you knew how to handle the tools of the trade and could make a carrot end into a flower maybe you could convince me to hire you to carve centerpieces for the table at my wedding out of melons.

An audition is exactly the same. It is a practical interview. Whether or not you are required to present a resume and photograph (and I'll come back to the do's and dont's of those in a later lesson) it is no good relying on how good your Publicity Shot is or how much great past experience you have. What counts is the next 5 minutes - the practical interview - your audition. Your chance to show you have TALENT. And talent is a combination of Ability and Sparkle.

REMEMBER: At an audition a director is looking for the spark that indicates you have talent not necessarily the full living proof.

What the director sees at audition is not expected to be the final performance but a suggestion that you will be able to deliver the goods once the rehearsal process is complete. Therefore, if you can't do the basics like deliver a line, speak up, make eye contact or look confident when you are nervous under the pressure of auditions why should he believe that you can do it on performance night, when 30,000 people could be watching you.

"I'm nervous at auditions" is not an excuse to under perform. You will be nervous on first night before the curtain goes up but are you going to go out and make a fool of yourself in front of an audience; or run out the stage door and leave the production to carry on without you? Of course you're not.

The biggest chunk of the audition ‘score' is always going to be based on your "Ability" so it is important that you collect every single mark you can based on your ‘natural gift'. Now we'll come back to this part of your audition in detail later and look at how to get into ‘character', break down a scene or monologue and deliver a winning performance. For now though let's talk about the basics:

Fight or Flight
There is a magic elixir in the body of each and every one of us called Adrenaline. Adrenaline kicks in when we are nervous or put in a challenging situation. It is found in all animals and is linked to what is called The Fight or Flight response.

Adrenaline increases our state of alertness, gets the blood coursing through our veins and empowers us with strength and abilities we never had so we can run faster, lift heavier weights and achieve moments of greatness when the pressure is on and we are in a state of alert.

In the animal kingdom it allows beasts to respond in one of two ways - To ‘Fight for Survival' or ‘Run the Heck Away' as fast as they are able and save their tail! Hence "Fight or Flight."

Successful actors, singers and performers harness the power of adrenaline to give the best performances they can give. When they feel the onset of nerves (stage fright) they FIGHT. Few, if any, successful actors, singers and performers let their nerves overcome them and choose FLIGHT. Why? Because these are the people who never passed the audition! Simple isn't it.
So the third rule is this:

Rule #3

"Harness your nerves and use the adrenaline rush to over-perform not under-perform at your audition."

In short - think of your audition as a performance; go out there and knock ‘em dead!"
That may sound too easy because, as you know, nerves can do funny things to your body but look at it this way - if you can't do it for the audition why should the casting director believe you can do it in front of an audience or camera crew.

Look at your audition as your first day on a new job - you don't have to be perfect but you have to show the right attitude and enough potential to make them keep you on! We'll come back to how to channel your audition nerves and focus your energy later in the course. For now just remember this.

Tim Waddell has been working in theater his whole life. His duties have included actor, director, choreographer, musical director and artistic designer on productions across the world. He now runs theater acting programs and trains especially in audition technique. His blog is http://www.Mediatricks.com His new ebook, The Ultimate Audition Guide, is now available exclusively from http://www.WinThePart.com