Nerves are rough during auditions but are the worst when it comes to voice work and singing. Your breath becomes shallow, your mouth goes dry and it seems as if your diaphragm will never settle again. Don’t fret! Even with nerves, all of the practice and rehearsal you did beforehand will help you get into your rhythm and nail the audition.

Warm Up

The throat is a muscle. You don’t jump straight to working out without a proper warm up. Why would you jump straight into an audition without giving the same courtesy to your voice? Sing a few scales. Buzz the lips. Spit out tongue twisters. Get everything moving in unison before you’re called in.

Characterize Fast

With the script in hand, make strong choices fast. Who is the character? What is their age? What is the situation? You’re not trying to give the judges exactly what they think they want. Your goal is to give the judges a clear, precise character right off the bat. Fumbling for footing will only hurt your audition.

Drink Water

While dry mouth will probably show up no matter how hydrated you are, drink enough water so that it’s more of a phantom dry mouth than actual dry mouth. In addition to negatively impacting your tongue and its ability to produce sound, not enough water impacts the entire vocal tract, minimizing lubrication and otherwise wreaking havoc on your ability to produce a voice.

Act

Don’t ever be afraid to act as you do the reading, especially if it helps you make the voice even stronger. In fact, most all voice actors are theatrically trained. Feel the emotions the character feels. Throw your hands around in frustration. Whatever it takes to make that character vocally come alive, do it.