Do you bring your A Game to every audition or do you leave the room wishing you’d done better?
Many singers blame their poor auditions on their skill, technique and/or talent. They literally think they are not good enough, despite years of training. But quite often, this isn’t the issue and instead, the problem is actually in their minds.
What you need to remember is that every audition is an opportunity to grow! To grow as an artist and performer. When you start to see your auditions as opportunities instead of competitions, you’ll have turned a real corner in your professional development.
- Reframe the audition as an opportunity to perform. Enjoy yourself just like you would at a performance. Think of the audition panel as your appreciative audience. If they are taking notes or talking to each other, believe it’s because they want to make sure they remember you. Be excited for the opportunity to present your art to the audition panel. Keep in mind that if an audition doesn’t lead directly to an offer, it does not mean you were “rejected.” You may or may not be right for this role, but by showing up, you may be remembered for the next one. Just like in business, each time you make contact with a potential client your familiarity deepens and the possibility of being hired in the future increases. It’s the same with auditions.
- Own your entire audition experience. Stop thinking of the audition as a competition for limited roles. Don’t focus on proving yourself to the audition panel or convincing them that you’re talented. Instead, focus on yourself and what you need to do. Plan and prepare your whole experience from your morning routine and what you listen to on the drive, to your song choice and character interpretation. Wear clothes that make you feel fabulous. Consider whether the audition is making you feel like this is a great company to work for or one you’d be better off passing on. This is much more empowering than giving them all the power and praying they will cast you.
- Develop an abundance mindset. We create our own reality, meaning that what we focus on expands. Every time we think thoughts related to the scarcity of singing opportunities, we deepen our core belief that auditions are competitions for scarce resources. Focus on the jobs you have booked in the past and come up with your own affirmations like “opportunities to sing are infinite.”
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- Focus on developing connections and community. Take in your whole environment, because every audition is also an opportunity to grow and deepen your community. Maybe you keep seeing the same soprano at every audition. Instead of thinking of her as your competition, introduce yourself and exchange phone numbers. It takes a leap of faith to start treating your “competition” in a truly open hearted way. Be truly kind, not just to others, but to yourself! Remember, you can never control if you are “right” for a particular part in someone else’s eyes, but you can impact whether they will think of you positively for future roles. The audition panel wants you to be the answer to their casting problem, if not for this production then for the next one!
- Realize you are already “enough.” So many singers go to audition after audition with the nagging suspicion that they are somehow not “good enough.” Their thoughts run wild, thinking their high notes suck, their dancing sucks, their outfit sucks. Recognize that these are only thoughts and not objective reality, but when you keep allowing yourself to think these kinds of thoughts they become your personal reality. Choose to be more disciplined in your thinking. Don’t allow yourself to dwell upon your perceived shortcomings and insecurities. Convince yourself of the truth that you are already enough. Remind yourself you have nothing to prove.
- Care about the character. Challenge yourself to care more about being true to your own interpretation of the character than being cast. Our real job as performers is to bring our own unique version of a character and her story to life, not to twist ourselves into what we think casting might want.
- And lastly, celebrate! Find ways to celebrate and acknowledge your accomplishment when it’s over! Make sure to congratulate yourself after every audition no matter how it turned out. Auditioning is so challenging that many people quit performing because they just haven’t found a way to handle them that is not personally destructive. Give yourself a pat on the back just for showing up. Don’t allow anyone, not even yourself, to criticize your audition. Yes it’s OK to look for how you can improve, but do this in a gentle way, all the time acknowledging everything you did well. Commit to abandoning the ritual of self criticism and create new rituals like telling yourself how proud you are of yourself, getting your favorite smoothie or frozen yogurt, going for a walk somewhere pretty, writing about your accomplishments in your journal, revisiting everything that went well at the audition, getting a latte, walking your dog, buying yourself flowers. By auditioning you’re not just telling casting you want the role, you’re also telling the Universe you are primed and ready for your next opportunity.
By embodying these mindset shifts, you will dramatically improve both your audition outcomes and your overall audition experience, because although mastering your audition material is absolutely necessary for a stellar audition, your MINDSET is the key to booking the job.
