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Have you ever walked into an audition

and thought,

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ok,

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I'm confident.

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I'm confident.

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I'm confident

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while your body is screaming,

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we're absolutely not confident.

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Meanwhile, casting directors are

looking at you like, are they?

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Are they ok?

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Confidence is one of those weird acting

ingredients you can't fake, can't

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force, but absolutely need, even though

most actors have no idea what real

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confidence looks like.

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Well, today we're pulling back the

curtain because what you think

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confidence is and what casting

directors actually see as confidence

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are two completely different things.

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Let's

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fix the gap.

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Well, hello, and welcome back to

casting actor's cast, the podcast that

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gives you insider insight, actor

motivation and a gentle nudge to stop

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doubting yourself quite so much.

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I'm Jeff dryesback, casting director,

teacher, former actor, and the guy who

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has watched

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thousands of auditions and can tell you

in three seconds if someone trusts themselves

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or is silently begging the room to

validate them.

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Today's episode is a big one, because

we're talking about confidence,

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and more importantly,

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the confidence gap,

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that painful space between how talented

you actually are

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and how confident you feel.

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Here's the truth

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actors are often much better than they

think they are.

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But their lack of confidence hides the

very thing we want to see.

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So today we're going to break it down,

what confidence is,

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what it is not, how casting directors

spot it,

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and how can you build real, grounded

confidence

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that books rolls

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let's jump in.

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But first, this is that moment of the

conversation where I get to say, thank

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you for tuning into casting actors

cast.

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Please check out the website, casting

actor's cast dot com.

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You can fill out the form that says,

dive into the talent pool.

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You get it.

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And if you do that that's going to open

up a free book as well as a free video.

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Also there's additional information

information on the website there's the

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archive of past episodes there's jeff's

jots, which are the show notes for each

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individual episode.

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And the past several episodes, I think

have been pretty dense.

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And so I would love it if you would

want to download

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the pdf of that show.

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That's going to give you the actual

show notes that I work off of when I do

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these podcasts.

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So I think you might find that to be

really kind of handy and useful,

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especially if there's an episode that

really speaks to you

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oh here's my shout out to my good

friends and actor's connection actor's

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connectiondot com, slash, New York.

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And as always, I am thrilled to be part

of the Broadway podcast network family

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it's been a real pleasure bringing

these episodes

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to that network.

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And to you.

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All right, let's jump in what

confidence is and what it is not.

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We have to break it down.

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Here's what confidence is not.

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See, actors often get confidence wrong.

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So let's clear the air.

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Number one, confidence

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is not perfection.

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You don't need to be flawless

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confident.

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Actors Embrace imperfections.

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They don't hide them.

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Confidence is not big energy.

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You don't have to burst into the room

like you're hosting the tonies.

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Confidence is not volume.

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Confidence is not arrogance.

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See, arrogance is insecurity, wearing

sunglasses

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really.

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Confidence is quiet,

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steady

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and grounded.

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Confidence is not pretending.

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You can't fake confidence and sustain

it.

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I remember, a long time ago, I did an

episode called act as if.

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And I actually said, act as if you feel

confident.

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Well, I've kind of changed my tune just

a little bit.

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You can do that when you walk into a

room or meeting somebody for the first

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time, but that's not something that you

can sustain necessarily.

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So I'm kind of changing my tune just a

little bit.

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Because what happens is your body is

going to betray you.

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Suddenly we'll be seeing some tells,

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switchy hands,

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twitchy hands, rather a tight jaw,

maybe a shallow breath.

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And confidence is not knowing.

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You'll book the job.

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Real.

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Confidence is, I'm good at what I do,

and I trust myself enough to let this unfold.

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Confidence is a relationship with

yourself, not with the outcome.

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Let's talk about what confidence is.

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So if we talk about confidence isn't

the big showy stuff, than what is it?

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Confidence is ease,

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the relaxed,

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unforced presence that says, I'm here,

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I'm ready

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I belong.

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Confidence is self trust,

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not perfection,

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not control,

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just trust.

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Confidence is consistency,

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not in the results,

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but in showing up prepared

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every time.

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Confidence

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is clarity.

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You've made choices.

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You know your objective

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you're not guessing.

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Confidence is connection.

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You see, confident actors connect with

the reader,

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with the story.

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Confident actors connect with

themselves.

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Confidence is relational, not

performative.

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Confidence is listening.

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When you trust yourself, you can

actually hear the other person.

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Confidence is permission.

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A permission to be messy, to be human

confidence, to discover, adjust,

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surprise yourself.

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See, confidence says it's ok,

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to just be me.

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Let's talk about how casting directors

identify confidence in three seconds.

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Literally, in three seconds,

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we're going to get to that right after

this.

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So how do casting directors identify

confidence in three seconds?

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Here's the insider.

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Gold actors never hear.

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Casting directors spot confidence

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instantly.

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How

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your entrance energy

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in a live audition,

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confident actors walk in the room,

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and they walk in the room

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and it isn't a threat.

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Their body is open, their breath is

normal, and they're not trying to make

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an impression.

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Your greeting

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when walking in the room,

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simple calm human,

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not apologetic,

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not overly formal,

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just

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real.

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By the way, that also goes for your

slate when you're doing a self tape.

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Not overly formal, just real.

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Next

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your eyes.

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Confident actors have presence in the

eyes, not darting, not searching for approval.

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Your transitions,

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between lines,

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between beats,

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between actions.

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Highly confident actors don't rush

transitions.

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They let moments unfold.

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Ok, repeat that, right.

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They don't rush transitions.

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They let moments unfold.

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I just made you a lot of money right

now.

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I just want to take a moment and

acknowledge that

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er's

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another sign about your confidence,

your responses to adjustment.

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This one is huge.

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If we give you a redirect or a note,

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and you light up,

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that is confidence.

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If you panic or you freeze,

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wa, that's a confidence gap.

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Here's another one.

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Your sense of ease in the space you're

not stiff, shrinking

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or bracing,

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you take up the amount of space that a

grounded human naturally takes.

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Confidence is visible, whether you

speak or not.

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Now I've got the top six signs you have

a confidence gap.

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These are subtle,

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but incredibly common.

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Now let's just see if any of these

apply to you.

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One

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over, apologising

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actors apologize for everything.

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I'm sorry, I didn't slate.

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I'm sorry.

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This is a weird angle.

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I'm sorry that my hair exists

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stop apologizing.

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Start owning.

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Here's another one, rushing,

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fast talking, fast moving, like you

want to get it over you before you're judged.

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Over preparing, but under committing

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your work is technically good,

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but it is emotionally

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guarded.

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How about over explaining your choices?

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Confident actors, let the work speak.

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Others try to justify it

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here's one

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being easily thrown off.

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If a noise in the hallway or a redirect

derails, you entirely

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see that's a confidence gap

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out.

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Come obsession.

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Here's an example.

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The moment your mind goes to, did I

book it?

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You're in the gap.

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Real confidence is about the work,

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not the result

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of build, real actor confidence.

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Here it is, your confidence building

blueprint.

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This works for auditions, self, tapes,

classes

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and

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onset.

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Number one,

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know your strength,

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how you need to write em down.

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See, actors rarely acknowledge what

they're good at.

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I want you to write it down.

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I want you to write down the roles

you've excelled in the moments.

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Teachers praised you, the feedback that

stuck for you,

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characters that feel natural.

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Any of those things on that list

becomes your foundation.

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Number two, create a preaudition

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ritual.

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Yeah, you know what?

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Athletes do it.

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Dancers do it.

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Actors

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actor's panic.

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Create a ritual

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that tells your brain.

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We're safe.

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We're ready.

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Number three, practice what I call

micro bravery.

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Confidence builds through small risks.

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Try a bolder choice,

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pause just a little bit longer,

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lean into a moment.

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Every micro brave moment grows your

confidence muscle.

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Stop trying to impress.

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Confidence is not, do you like me?

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It's,

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I know who I am.

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Let me share it with you.

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Set process based goals.

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You don't say, I want to book this,

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try.

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I want to stay present in the

transitions,

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or I want to connect to the reader

through the whole scene.

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See, small winds create big confidence.

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Learn to appreciate your work

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after yourself.

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Tape don't start with what went wrong.

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For goodness sake.

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Start with what went right.

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Confidence grows when you acknowledge

your wins.

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Here's a confidence reset for audition

day here's a quick reset you can use

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right before taping or entering the

room.

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Stop.

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Take one breath,

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drop your shoulders, loosen your jaw,

feel the ground under your feet.

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Say, I am enough for this moment.

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See that's the energy casting directors

will feel

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for sure.

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See

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here's what I think

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I want you to understand this, because

I think this is valuable.

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Confidence isn't magic, it isn't luck,

it isn't something other actors have.

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And you don't stop that.

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Confidence is a daily practice.

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It's a habit, it's a way of relating

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to yourself.

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When you close the confidence gap, you

unlock your presence,

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your power

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and your ability to let us truly see

you.

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Wow.

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That was fun.

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I hope you enjoyed that if this episode

resonated with you, why don't you

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consider sharing it with another actor

who could use a confidence boost to day

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and listen?

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If you haven't already, please do me a

big, big favor.

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Hit the subscribe button so you never

miss a new episode of casting actor's

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cast.

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I'm excited for the new year, and I'm

excited for a future podcast.

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But I need your acknowledgment for me

to keep going.

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It's really important.

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Thank you so much.

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I'm just dries back, reminding you, as

always, to prepare smarter,

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act better and book more.

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We'll see you next