Technique to "Let Go" of an Audition

1/1/2018

REPLAYING YOUR AUDITION A MILLION TIMES?

If you're like most actors, then this is probably true for you. We've all heard a thousand times to "leave our audition behind us" when we leave a casting office, but how can we practically stop fretting over our auditions?

Enter the Release Meditation Technique, brought to us my New York Times bestseller Brendon Burchard.

He uses this to coach his high performance clients (some of them actors), and it can be beautifully beneficial if you practice it after an audition.

FIRST, TEXT A FRIEND

Before we dive into the technique, however, I want you to do something first. When your butt hits the seat of your car, text someone you trust (preferably not an actor) a constructive criticism of your audition.

When I say constructive, I mean something actionable or factual.

For example, I may text my husband to say, "Finished. It was good, but I'm not sure I took the note well when they asked me to show more excitement. I just smiled more instead of thinking about something that truly excites me."

This shifted my focus to personalizing audition notes.

The next time I texted him, "All done! I felt like I took the notes really well this time. I'm not sure I looked old enough to be the mom of those kids, though!"

That last part was a reminder to myself that some things are just out of my control.

SECOND, REPLAY THE AUDITION

YUP! I said it! I want you to actually allow yourself to replay it as a means of letting it go. Yes, this post is still teaching you how to stop overthinking your audition.

The trick here is to replay it no more than twice in your mind!

Then let it go. But how?

THIRD, USE THE RELEASE TECHNIQUE

If you want Brendon's full 30 minute video on this, click here.

Here are the quick steps for actors post-audition:

Go park somewhere besides the casting office parking lot if it's an in-person audition. Go to the couch if you're self-taping at home.
Set your phone timer for two minutes.
Close your eyes and inhale deeply.
Repeat the word "release" aloud a few times as you exhale.
After a few cycles of this, repeat the word release in your head so it's no longer audible until you hear the timer alarm.

I want to highlight a couple of things here.

It's important that you leave the casting office parking lot so that you're not taking up valuable parking space that your fellow actors need.

You're already in their shoes, and stress over a parking space is the last thing we need before an audition.

You also need to show the casting team that you are able to confidently leave an audition. We'll talk about casting office do's and don'ts in a future post.

Additionally, it's crucial that you set a timer so that you can actually focus on the technique instead of wondering when you're done.

It totally defeats the purpose if you're constantly looking up at the clock to check the time.

If you can't find a safe parking lot for this, then find a bathroom elsewhere.

Do you have any post-audition tips? Feel free to comment and share.

Next week we'll discuss self-coaching before and after an audition.

But if you want to make casting director's to think about YOU when they see your dream role, then go check out this post on Actor Types: