audition nerves?

at college auditions anyway, i always try to stay away from all the girls who are in a big group talking about what shows they've done and who they've worked with and what camps they've been to -- everyone is just trying to show everyone else up.

it's an AUDITION -- not a social gathering. i try to focus on my preparation. i might have a playlist pre-made on my iPod with songs that i know inspire me BUT calm me down at the same time. i also keep this in mind: you are not going to be the best audition they've ever seen. you should try your hardest to be, but you probably won't be. THAT SAID (and this is the important part), you will almost definitely not be the worst audition they've ever seen either.

good luck to everyone, i know how hard this stuff is!!

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kitkat- I still have a loooooong while before I reach that kind of nirvana, but what I do is just "shake it out" and try to keep moving, and focus on myself and being prepared.

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something an acting coach used to tell me is really interesting... she said that you CAN'T control the nerves, if you're nervous, you're nervous, and it is going to affect your body. breathing certainly helps, but if you think to yourself "ok, this is what happens when i get nervous. i can't supress it, i can only work WITH it," it can work in your favor rather than come out involuntarily while you are trying NOT to shake. you know?

something that helps me a little is to let all the nervous energy go before I have to go in to audition. A lot of times I get shivers or something, so instead of holding it back and trying to suppress everything, I just shake out and let everything go. Then I think about going in the audition room and doing what I have to do. Someone on the board said a while ago that they think of auditions like performances, which helps them get less nervous. I think that sort of works. In an audition don't be you, be your characters. I don't know if that helped or not, but there you go.

Haha ok, I only did this at a school audition last year, not auditioning for colleges this year or anything, but what I found that worked for me was doing some physical activity or something other than standing around waiting and getting even more nervous. I ran up and down the hall for a bit, and my problem was that my voice would get choked up and I'd feel my heart pounding and it wouldnt stop, but basically when you get your blood pumping by doing something like a few jumping jacks or running down a hallway it gets you relaxed and clears your mind for a little.
Ok, that probably sounds really weird, but I swear it worked for me that one time, and I just didn't use it again because I wasn't as nervous at college auditions. For those, I just think "I'll never see these people again if they don't like me, and if they do, they'll want to work with me and I'll be back for 4 years..."
Break a leg!

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I'm a mind-over-matter kind of person, so I usually talk myself into thinking that I'm extremely fabulous, and that this whole 'audition' thing is easy as pie. :0) For me, it's all about psyching myself up. As crazy as this may sound, give it a try: Before you go to the audition, or at the audition, but preferably somewhere private, try a few home-made mantras, like, "I can do this," or, "I've got this," or, "I'm a star!" I usually make up my own on the spot and just repeat them throughout the day (usually when no one's listening!).

Saying your mini-mantras out loud really does help, but, again, I usually do it in private so that no one hears me and 1) thinks I'm crazy or 2) thinks I'm full of myself.

I'm actually my own worst critic when it comes to my performance abilities, so talking myself up (to myself, that is) really helps me a lot in performance situations, which is really all that an audition is: a performance for a really tiny group of people!

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Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72- unfortanetly, it is in their ability to not accept you. However, it would not be moral for them to not accept you for that reason.
If not accepted, you could always argue it's for that reason but I guess you could never REALLY find out the truth. Just know, if they don't accept you for who you are and what you can't control- they aren't good moral people and you wouldn't want to go there.


"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you."
Rephrase that into this audition situation...

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Updated On: 2/5/06 at 12:14 AM

I tend to think about what will happen if I DON'T get the audition. What is the WORST that could happen?
Usually, it's not that bad.
Then its easy to convince myself that I don't need the audition, I'm just going to give it my best and see what happens, but this is not a do or die situation. I'm here to audition simply for the experience of auditioning!
Plus, before I leave the house, I do some vocal warmups and some stretches, less for the acting benefits and more just to calm myself down.

amen wbw

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Breathe, shake everything out before entering the room.. eat a peanut butter & banana sandwich before hand...it gives you a ton of good energy and makes you happy. All the ice skaters at the olympics eat this before they go on the ice because it helps them focus better... also, talk yourself into thinking that it's a final project .. that this is your final grade to graduate school.. or that you ALREADY have the job and it's a rehearsal.. it makes it more easier to go in and have fun.

though olympic skaters may eat pb/banana sandwiches, they don't have to use their voices.

i wouldn't be able to sing with peanut butter in my throat all day.

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