I'm Nervous in Audition. What to do? Here's 7 Steps Cure

"My experience of first audition  was for an advertisement which turned out to be bad. I was very nervous, I mugged up all dialogues and I repeated each line as it was without any expression on my face"-actress Sonia Bilani: source

Auditions make people nervous. That’s understandable. It’s the question of your career and fulfilling your dreams. Obviously, you will be a concerned, anxious about how to give your best and flawless performance.
You can’t let the nerves take away your this opportunity to win a role. For your next audition try these steps and see if you have a stronger, more relaxed, more focused audition.

1. Sleep

Experts say eight hours is what we need. That may be wishful thinking, but on a night before the audition day and to do your absolute best, get as much sleep as you can. Being tired will hinder your ability to listen, to quickly take direction, and draw from your much needed creative energy.

2. Eat Well

Go for your energy food, like proteins. Avoid oily, spicy and acidic food

3. No Alcohol  / Smoking

Avoid alcohol (even beer and wine) the night before and refrain from smoking the day before and especially on the audition day. Smoking affects breathing and results in poor dialog delivery

In Audition Waiting Room

4. Some Warm-Ups. 

• While sitting stretch your muscles. Start with the head and go all the way to the toes. Loosen your entire body. Massage your upper and lower jaw and wake your face up. Walk up and down briskly in the audition room
• For your vocal warm-up, do some tongue twisters. Getting this done on the words before an audition can make a big difference between constrained and an impressive dialog delivery.

5. Stay Hydrated

Drink water. You’ve heard it for years. Your body needs water to keep everything flowing. You’ll feel better, be more alert, and have more energy.

6. Use Relaxation Techniques

The quick and simple steps while sitting on a chair:

A. Position:
-One hand on chest
-The other hand on stomach

B. Steps:

• Exhale, fully emptying your lungs
• Inhale deeply, pressing your stomach slightly. No pressing of your chest with the other hand
• Hold your breath for 5 to 7 seconds and while you are holding your breath,
• Auto suggest silently to you, like-“I‘ll be relaxed”, “I’ll feel good”, I’ll give a great audition”, “I’ll give good performance”…
• Exhale very slowly in 7 to 10 seconds, releasing the pressure of your hand which is on the  stomach
• Repeat this exercise 10 times or till you can continue, depending upon time available in an audition room or the set before the shoot.
• Finally, auto suggest yourself- “I’m feeling relaxed, yes really good. Yes, I’m gonna create another life" (a character in audition other than yourself)
• Listen to some music you love and forget about your lines. You have already spent time in memorizing them

7. Keep Focused

• Find an object in the audition room, concentrate and remain focused. Go on thinking about the character in you. Do not try to see or hear anything else in the waiting room. If any person talks to you, reply briefly and again go back to your object of concentration.
• Just before you go into your audition, take a deep breath. Fill your chest and then release. This will instantly let go of whatever anxiety has built up during your wait.

Partly based on source