How to Take the (Bad) Edge Off the Audition - Part 3

Okay!Okay!  Ready for this?  We're going to take your bad
nervous energy, and transform it into that GOOD nervous
energy you need for a great audition.

Step 3: Use Your Model Experience

Take the great audition you thought of in Step 1, and
use it as a model for this upcoming audition. 

Here's what you do -- then I'll tell you why this
process works.

First... imagine that great audition in Step 1. 
Remember, it doesn't matter if you are making it up, or
whether you saw an actor in a movie have a great
audition, or if you saw another actor in real life have
a great audition.

The point is, now you're going to imagine that it was
YOU who had that great audition.

This should be fun, because you're using your acting
power, your imagination, to envision that it was you
who had that experience.

Really see yourself in that great audition.  Make it
like you are really THERE.  Take some time with this
and FEEL it. 

Next... Pretend that the audition you have coming up,
the one triggering fear, has ALREADY HAPPENED.  Take
those same feelings from the great audition into the
upcoming audition.  SEE yourself there, as if it's a
memory.  SEE yourself meeting the casting directors...
the smiling faces.  SEE yourself doing really well. 
FEEL yourself doing really well.

Have fun with this!  You need to get into it so much
that you're actually feeling good and smiling about the
great job you did.

Do this 3 times a day for at least 3 days (more, if you
need to) until the fear of the upcoming audition is
gone, until you are feeling confident about the
audition coming up.

If the fear and self-doubt creep back in over the days
before the upcoming audition, Stop.  Think about what
you are imagining that causes the feelings of fear. 

Then ask yourself, 'Is what I'm imagining something
I can control?'  If it is within your control, then
take care of it. 

On the other hand, if the problem is something BEYOND
your control, then forget about it!  Do this by going
back to Step 3, and focus on what you CAN control.

Why the Process Works

To understand how and why this process works so well,
let's recap what you've done:

• Step 1: Think of a great audition
• Step 2: Identify the specific fears you have about
  this upcoming audition
• Step 3: Use your model audition experience to
  transfer your feelings of success to this upcoming
  audition... as if it's already happened

By taking these specific steps, you are overriding the
fear images by flooding your head with POSITIVE images
connected with positive FEELINGS.  This is not mere
"positive thinking"...you are actually reprogramming
your thought patterns.

The reason Step 3 is so important and powerful is
because when you fantasize with strong images and
feelings, your subconscious thinks the experience
is REAL.  (In case you didn't know it, your subconscious
mind does not know the difference between fantasy 
and reality.)

Your subconscious is that part of your brain that
controls your heart beat, your breathing...those
things you don't have to THINK about doing.  The
subconscious is also where your fears reside, and a
lot of times, they are only there because you
BELIEVE there is something to be afraid of -- even
when there is NOTHING to be afraid of. (In other
words: What you believe to be true IS true...EVEN
IF IT ISN'T.)
So when you IMAGINE with strong images and FEELINGS,
your subconscious THINKS IT'S TRUE.  This means that
your subconscious replaces the belief that 'I AM
GOING TO MESS UP' with 'I AM GOING TO DO GREAT.'

It's as if you have already had that experience of the
great audition!  Since the fear is gone, you FEEL better
about it before you even do it. 

The fact is that actors who have less fear are cast
more often.  And even when you don't get the role,
you still know you did a great audition -- the best
one you possibly could, so you feel better about it,
and it helps keep your chin up for next time.

When you use this process, email your success story to me
...I'd love to know how it went!

Here's to Your Empowerment!

--Tom

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2010 Tom Brooks and
The Empowered Actor Initiative  All Rights Reserved