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That Dreaded Audition

Blog, Career

“Do you ever get nervous before an audition?” a colleague wanted to know. Let’s name him Jack.

“Not really,” I said. “I find nerves to be extremely unhelpful. Most of the time they’re the result of future memories.

“Future memories? What do you mean by that?” my colleague wanted to know.

“Well, in my mind, a memory is a reconstruction of an interpretation of what we think has happened to us in the past.

A future memory is something we’ve made up that we believe might happen one day. It’s equally unreliable, and yet people can get all worked up over them. Especially those who are into worst-case-scenario thinking. Nobody can say with certainty what’s going to happen. Take it from me, there’s nothing as unpredictable as the outcome of an audition.”

“Why is that?” asked Jack.

Read the rest of this story in my new book. Click on the cover to access the website and get a sneak peek. Use the buttons to buy the book.

Making Money In Your PJs cover

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Filed Under: Blog, Career Tagged With: acting, calming nerves, future memories, Nethervoice, overcoming performance anxiety, Paul Strikwerda, voice acting, voice-over, voice-over auditions, voiceover, voiceover blog, winning auditions

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Comments

  1. Garnet Williams says

    June 20, 2013 at 12:36 am

    Another one hit right out of the park Paul! Great read!

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  2. Bruce Abels says

    June 20, 2013 at 1:51 am

    Truer words about auditioning (and life) were never spoken, er, written. Guess the trick is to make that sense if confidence and self a constant behind the mic. And that comes by doing and doing and doing. Thanks Paul!

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  3. Matt Forrest says

    June 20, 2013 at 8:35 am

    “I usually ignore the instructions and do my own thing. It’s a crapshoot anyway.” Good advice, Paul. I of course try to learn what the producers want, but I don’t worry about what they want. I just do the best job I can and hope for the best – there’s not much more than can be done!

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  4. Raúl Méndez says

    June 20, 2013 at 10:06 am

    You lose nothing by trying and with time and constant practice, you will develop your own voice personality. That will make you real.

    Thank You Paul.

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  5. Heather Henderson says

    June 20, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    You’re so practical, Paul. Maybe it’s a Dutch thing. 🙂 This is a wonderful post, as usual. I think it was you who told me several years ago, “You don’t audition to get the gig. You audition to get heard.” I especially agree with you about ignoring the instructions and doing it one’s own way. You have to give them your true self or you’ll always be trying to pretend you’re someone you’re not.

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  6. Beverly Ann Astley says

    June 21, 2013 at 8:09 am

    This was a great article, I think you were speaking directly to me, it helps a lot, thank you.

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  7. Helen Lloyd says

    June 21, 2013 at 8:54 am

    Nothing is more terrifying than a ‘real’ audition for a theatre job … I have done hundreds – you are shown onto an empty stage facing a darkened auditorium, whence a disembodied voice says …’and you are …..?, You give you name, ‘OK Helen, just start in your own time’. You launch into your audition piece, aware of rustling and whispering coming from the darkened space in front of you… if you are lucky you get to the end of your audition piece, but sometimes get stopped in mid flow; ‘thank you … we’ll be in touch next please’.

    Of course you don’t get every job, but if you are realistic, you understand that getting or not getting the job has little to do with your talent or ability, and is far more likely to be to do with the way you look or sound, your age, the preconceptions of the director, your height, the colour of your hair, een the length of your hair (have they never heard of wigs?) the casting dynamic .. how you might fit in with the rest of the cast … and whether you ‘look’ right – and on and on goes the list.

    Given this scenario, sending an audio file into the ether is a doddle! … But in both cases, you have to just ‘let it go’ … your best is all you can do. You just have to breathe deeply and move on.

    More great advice Paul … thank you.

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  8. Jack Elias says

    June 21, 2013 at 9:59 am

    “Future Memories”. You nailed me perfectly.
    Great post. Thanks Paul.

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  9. Rodney Higgins says

    June 21, 2013 at 10:45 am

    Oh, my god. Never was a truer post written about auditioning. All voice actors should print this out in bold type on poster-sized paper, frame it, and hang it where they can read it every day upon rising. I’m scooping this on Scoop.it now!

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    • Paul Strikwerda says

      June 21, 2013 at 3:30 pm

      Thank you all for your positive responses, whether on this page or via email. I’m already thinking of a follow-up up story for next week. You inspire me!

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  10. Brian von Dedenroth says

    June 21, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    You hear/read/experience time and again how a positive mental attitude will pay positive future dividends but how to apply that in life and auditions is not easy. The concept of controlling our “future memories” and audition dread by keeping it simple, being yourself, and having fun is advice I need to print out and paste everywhere: my mic stand, the camera, oh and the forehead of girl I’m talking to at the bar. Well written pithy prose that apply equally to life as voice over. Thank you.

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  11. Beverly Bremers says

    June 21, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    Thanks, Paul! Your words rang true! I just shared it on my Facebook page. : – )

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  12. Moe Rock says

    June 24, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    I was once told that the feelings of being nervous and of being excited are biologically the same… just one is positive and the other is negative. So I always choose to be excited rather than nervous. It keeps me much more focused. :o)

    Thanks as always for your wonderful words Paul!

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In this blog I may discuss/review products or books that I believe are relevant to my readers. As a service to them, I often provide links to those products or publications.Instead of having a tip jar, Nethervoice is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. In other words, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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