Make the Most of Your Acting Audition
If you have chosen acting, performing, singing, dancing or modelling as a career you will at some time be tested at an audition. Just getting the chance of attending acting auditions can be difficult enough. They are an opportunity for you to get on with your chosen career so don't blow your chances when you turn up for your first auditions!
There are plenty of tips and useful bits of advice all over the Internet that you can search for and read as well as listening to other actors' experiences. The more auditions you go to, the easier they will seem and the feelings of insecurity and intimidation will eventually fade, but you don't want too many auditions! You want to be able to convert these opportunities into real productive acting experiences let alone some income as well.
Thorough preparation is the first step in making the best use of your audition experience. If your casting agent has got you the audition then they might be able to tell you something about what might be involved and any little pitfalls that should be avoided. They are the first source of information when it comes to working out what to wear or how to look. It might be, however, that the agent doesn't really know much about the company that is involved in the production you are auditioning for, so it is then your job to do some research into the company and the production itself to find out as much as possible about it.
Familiarising yourself with as much information as possible may give you a head start when it comes to competing with other budding actors at the audition. The audition's staff who contacted you may also give you some useful information about the story or plot that is involved and the role that you are auditioning for. Obviously if it is a lead role you will probably have done quite a lot of acting beforehand, so should at least know the ropes quite well at this stage even if every audition is a new challenge and experience.
Your very first auditions will probably make you quite nervous so it is a good idea to make sure you are well rested beforehand and even take up some extra tension relief exercises if you think that might help. Look after your health as well, particularly your voice, as this could be the deciding factor on the day. One way to tackle the confidence issue is to imagine you are acting out the audition and you are playing the role of an experienced and accomplished actor who has gone to many auditions before. You just need to act the role you have assigned yourself!
If the latter is not really your way of doing things, use direct eye contact as much as possible with the audience or judging panel, and just do the best you can.