The Ice Breaker: How to Warm Up Your Audition Panel

The Ice Breaker: How to Warm Up Your Audition PanelAs an acting coach and audition specialist, I help people every year get into the top drama schools in the world. One of the common questions I’m asked is about the Ice Breaker from the audition panel. 

Let’s imagine you first meet your audition panel on Zoom. The first thing they’re going to want to do is put you at ease. Two of the most common questions are, ‘how are you?’ and, ‘Whereabouts are you from?’. 

In the case of ‘how are you’, stick to a positive answer. They don’t really want to know you’re nervous as hell, so don’t tell them. It’s not going to make them think better of you. So it’s much better to be positive and say something like, ‘I’m great, thank you! How are you?’. Asking them how they are too shows them that you’re also a considerate human being. 

To answer something about where you are, don’t just state the facts and leave it there, have something ready to say about it. For example, I always say, ‘I’m in sunny Glasgow’, which if they know the city, they’ll find it amusing since it’s nearly always raining, and if they don’t, then it will sound positive. If it looks like they want to further the conversation by telling you they have been there, or they haven’t, be ready for a follow up statement like, ‘it’s a great place with wonderful people’ or ‘it used to have the tallest cinema in Europe’. 

It may seem simple, but many times I’ve seen auditionees confess to their nerves or apologise in advance for their internet connection or act like rabbits in headlights. There’s an old saying, you don't get a second chance at making a first impression. So make sure you start the conversation on a positive note.

Hope this little tip has been helpful to you. If you have any more questions or any tips yourself, please get in touch!