Audition Tips: 5 Things You Must Do at the Audition Venue

Last time, we discussed what you should do before you go for any audition and we stopped at you arriving early, so let’s go straight into today’s part which is what you should do when you get to the audition venue. 1. REGISTER: At every professional audition, you are most likely to be auditioned based on first-come-first-served basis, unless you are going for “call backs” where you might be auditioned based on who you are paired with. So, when you get to the venue, don’t just sit in your car, or in some corner. Ask for a list, where your name and your arrival time will be written. And let your name be legible because if the coordinator comes out to call people and he/she can’t read your name because of your poor handwriting, you might just miss your chance to be auditioned on time. Another important thing is your phone number and e-mail address; write them very clearly and always write your primary phone number first, as it’s the one they are likely to call when inviting you for call backs. You are also most likely to be given a sticky tag with same number as the one on your audition form. You are meant to paste the tag on your upper body for the camera to see as you go in to face the judges. It’s important you place it correctly so it won’t be too hard to sort out your form when they are playing back the video.   2. BE CONFIDENT AND BE PREPARED:   The audition starts from when you walk into the room, so walk in with confidence, be aware of your surroundings, smile at the judges and greet warmly. Do not put yourself into an emotional “state” trying to “get into character” before you walk into the room, or else you’ll miss the opportunity to reveal your own personality when you walk in, and God forbid, have a meaningful and fun conversation with the judges in the event they want to. Remember not to be overly chatty or too eager to please, and don’t flirt with the judges even if you know any of them. Please don’t! You are there for a serious business; keep everything moderate. It’s also advisable to have a monologue ready to perform at an audition whether you have been pre-informed or not. Most presenters’ auditions will ask you to present something of your own, your own story. Be prepared because you would want to be memorable; the judges are seeing hundreds of people in a day.   3. LISTEN ATTENTIVELY: The panel of judges will always give you some instructions. Your job at the time is to listen very well; you don’t want to come across as an actor who doesn’t know how to listen. They will ask you to introduce yourself, turn to the right, towards them, to the left, and back towards them; this is for the camera to get your profile shots. And then they will ask you to tell them what role you are auditioning for. This process is called “slating”, and it is a simple process of telling your name, age (sometimes) and the role you are auditioning for in the case of a theatrical audition, so keep it simple and semi-formal. All you need to do is look into the camera and say “Hello, my name is Chris Bamidele Oyeyemi, I am 30 years old and auditioning for the role of Dayo” or something close to that. The key to slating is to be natural, it should not be “over the top,” and it should certainly not be boring. Do it just like when you first meet a person; you want to give a good first impression that shows confidence and ease. And please do not say “My names are”, it is wrong; it is bad English, except your names actually ‘are’ Chris, Bamidele and Oyeyemi. You get my drift?   4. DITCH THE FAKE ACCENT: Throwing fake accents around happens a lot at presenters’ audition, and unknown to many wannabes, this lowers their chances of being selected by more than 50%. Stick to your normal accent, and only try to pronounce properly. No one is going to be impressed if they can’t place your accent anywhere or if you switch several accents in a paragraph while trying to sound “posh”! All you need to do is speak proper English and pronounce your words properly. At the last audition I worked, I noticed a lot of people especially ladies don’t/can’t pronounce properly. Most pronounce “Three” as “Tree”, “Ask” as “Aks” and some pronounce “Egg” as “Hegg”. My Yoruba fellows will understand this. LOL. Also, if you attend a professional acting audition, you are likely to have a reader who will read the script with you. The reader is not an actor; he/she is just there reading the lines of other characters for you. Don’t get carried away by the presence of this person, he/she is there to read while you are there to listen to him/her for your cue and ACT as you read your own lines. DON’T FORGET THIS! The last point is what you should do after the audition.   5. ANSWER YOUR PHONE AND CHECK YOUR MAILS: The production house might decide to call you back for a second stage of the audition within 24 hours or more if you performed well at the first general audition; it’s advisable to ditch the mindset of “They already know who they want to cast”. So, always ensure you check your e-mails regularly, and your primary phone line stays on at all times; if you missed a call from an unregistered number after an audition, try to call back or send a text message. And always be polite while answering your call, the person calling you back might be a pompous and angry production assistant, and if you sound rude on phone, he/she might just cut the phone on you. So, smile as you pick up your phone, sound professional and courteous when you talk, and go ahead to clinch that role that will make you a SUPERSTAR!        

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This article was first published on 10th August 2015

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