
DO: Smile and thank those who were present at your audition, answer any questions they have, and make a quick but graceful exit. Then sit down in the waiting room to collect your thoughts before leaving, hanging around just long enough in case they call you back in.
DON’T: Dash out of the room without thanking anyone and head straight to your car. This will only leave them wondering if there is something wrong with you. This is not the way you want them to remember you.
DO: Take note of what happened and how it went. Analyze your audition from your own perspective and make notes on what you can do differently or better next time. Learn from the experience.
DON’T: Try to decipher what the Casting Director or Director thought. It’s an impossible task and there are way too many variables for you to make sense of anyway.
DO: Forget about the audition the minute you walk out that door. Assume you did not get the role and move on to preparing for the next thing or focus on honing your craft. Then if you do book the job it’ll be a lovely surprise.
DON’T: Continue analyzing your audition for the next 3 days. It’s a self-defeating behavior that will take your mind away from your goals and prevent you from quickly taking your next steps.
DO: Send a note thanking the people who auditioned you. This can be done by snail mail or email. Include a headshot with your thank you, this will remind them about you and your audition, which they hopefully loved.
DON’T: Attempt to call the Casting Director or show up at their office to say thank you. This is akin to stalking – Creepy!
DO: Touch base with the Casting Director in a few weeks or months with a simple note that tells them what you’re up to and reminds them that you’re still around and would love to audition for them again. They may have a perfect role for you and end up calling you in.
DON’T: Send a note like this too often (more than once in 4-8 weeks). You want them to remember you for all the right reasons, not for being a pest.
So there you have it – 5 simple and straightforward tips that you can use the next time you audition. While you don’t need to do all the DOs all the time, you should never do any of the DON’Ts. These tips will help you to behave appropriately and professionally after any audition. The more you do them, the more routine they will become. And before you know it, you’ll be auditioning without a care in the world! (Well, mostly anyway.)
No Post Next Week
Next Post: Authenticity in Acting Auditioning is the same as interviewing for a job, but different. So basically you need to treat it like a job interview with a slightly different set of rules. This also means that after the audition, you need to continue to behave professionally as if it were in fact a job interview, because it is. This week I’m giving you some simple DO's and DON’Ts that outline appropriate ways of behaving post-audition, from immediately afterwards to a few weeks out.