“Do you ever get nervous before an audition?” a colleague wanted to know. Let’s name him Jack.
“Not really,” I said. “I find nerves to be extremely unhelpful. Most of the time they’re the result of future memories.
“Future memories? What do you mean by that?” my colleague wanted to know.
“Well, in my mind, a memory is a reconstruction of an interpretation of what we think has happened to us in the past.
A future memory is something we’ve made up that we believe might happen one day. It’s equally unreliable, and yet people can get all worked up over them. Especially those who are into worst-case-scenario thinking. Nobody can say with certainty what’s going to happen. Take it from me, there’s nothing as unpredictable as the outcome of an audition.”
“Why is that?” asked Jack.
Another one hit right out of the park Paul! Great read!
Truer words about auditioning (and life) were never spoken, er, written. Guess the trick is to make that sense if confidence and self a constant behind the mic. And that comes by doing and doing and doing. Thanks Paul!
“I usually ignore the instructions and do my own thing. It’s a crapshoot anyway.” Good advice, Paul. I of course try to learn what the producers want, but I don’t worry about what they want. I just do the best job I can and hope for the best – there’s not much more than can be done!
You lose nothing by trying and with time and constant practice, you will develop your own voice personality. That will make you real.
Thank You Paul.
You’re so practical, Paul. Maybe it’s a Dutch thing. 🙂 This is a wonderful post, as usual. I think it was you who told me several years ago, “You don’t audition to get the gig. You audition to get heard.” I especially agree with you about ignoring the instructions and doing it one’s own way. You have to give them your true self or you’ll always be trying to pretend you’re someone you’re not.
This was a great article, I think you were speaking directly to me, it helps a lot, thank you.
Nothing is more terrifying than a ‘real’ audition for a theatre job … I have done hundreds – you are shown onto an empty stage facing a darkened auditorium, whence a disembodied voice says …’and you are …..?, You give you name, ‘OK Helen, just start in your own time’. You launch into your audition piece, aware of rustling and whispering coming from the darkened space in front of you… if you are lucky you get to the end of your audition piece, but sometimes get stopped in mid flow; ‘thank you … we’ll be in touch next please’.
Of course you don’t get every job, but if you are realistic, you understand that getting or not getting the job has little to do with your talent or ability, and is far more likely to be to do with the way you look or sound, your age, the preconceptions of the director, your height, the colour of your hair, een the length of your hair (have they never heard of wigs?) the casting dynamic .. how you might fit in with the rest of the cast … and whether you ‘look’ right – and on and on goes the list.
Given this scenario, sending an audio file into the ether is a doddle! … But in both cases, you have to just ‘let it go’ … your best is all you can do. You just have to breathe deeply and move on.
More great advice Paul … thank you.
“Future Memories”. You nailed me perfectly.
Great post. Thanks Paul.
Oh, my god. Never was a truer post written about auditioning. All voice actors should print this out in bold type on poster-sized paper, frame it, and hang it where they can read it every day upon rising. I’m scooping this on Scoop.it now!
Thank you all for your positive responses, whether on this page or via email. I’m already thinking of a follow-up up story for next week. You inspire me!
You hear/read/experience time and again how a positive mental attitude will pay positive future dividends but how to apply that in life and auditions is not easy. The concept of controlling our “future memories” and audition dread by keeping it simple, being yourself, and having fun is advice I need to print out and paste everywhere: my mic stand, the camera, oh and the forehead of girl I’m talking to at the bar. Well written pithy prose that apply equally to life as voice over. Thank you.
Thanks, Paul! Your words rang true! I just shared it on my Facebook page. : – )
I was once told that the feelings of being nervous and of being excited are biologically the same… just one is positive and the other is negative. So I always choose to be excited rather than nervous. It keeps me much more focused. :o)
Thanks as always for your wonderful words Paul!