Preparing for Auditions

London, UK

Last year on my other site, I posted the article below about how to prepare for a presenter audition.

As a young salesman many years ago, I strode into an office in the West End of London and requested to see the office manager. You see, I was attempting to get an appointment "off the street". This wasn't such a rare occurrence and to my delight, I was asked in and told by the gruff little man behind his huge desk, "you have one minute to tell me why I should buy a copier from you".

How many occasions has this sort of thing happened to you? Were you confident and well trained enough to reel off those benefits, not forgetting your USP? (the salespeople amongst you will know what I mean) Of course you were, weren't you?

The jump from salesman to presenter isn't so great as you may think. There are many transferable skills. The ability to learn scripts, absorb product information, and the determination and stamina to see things through are all vital in the field of corporate and tv presenting. Another pre-requisite of presenter success is the ability to learn 4 or 5 "pieces" you can deliver at auditions. These would be in addition to your 60 seconder. This is where you are asked (sometimes at very short notice) to "tell us about yourself ". This sort of thing is all the rage at those early morning business networking meetings.
Woe betide those who can't "deliver" what they're about in 60 seconds. The same applies to that ten second "elevator speech". You never know who might join you on your journey to the 22nd floor!

So, in order to knock 'em dead at any audition. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Break a leg!

BTW, here's a gallant effort