Actor-coach Aaron Marcus shares three techniques for nailing TV commercial auditions. Establish a pre-scene reason for your first line, use a silent keyword like "wow" to anchor yourself, and split your opening word between off-camera and on-camera to feel more conversational.
Hey, in this video I'm going to be sharing with you 3 unbelievably powerful audition tips for TV commercials that all actors need. Watch this to the end, I've got a great bonus video for you. It's how I unexpectedly booked an HBO TV show. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Hey, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when I upload a new video. And if you like the video, give it a thumbs up. That's actually very helpful. I wish I knew about these 3 audition tips when I first got started in the industry. I know I would have had even more success at auditioning. So let me first start off by saying I know some actors don't like doing TV commercials. I get it. I understand it. They feel it's beneath them. They're trained actors. They've studied hard. They don't want to, I don't know, besmirch their reputation by doing a TV commercial. I understand it. I love doing TV commercials. They're fun. They're quick. It's kind of like being an emergency medicine doctor. You just kind of come in and analyze things, fix things quickly, and then move on to something else. And also they can be incredibly lucrative. So anyhow, here's the very first tip. Before the scene starts— and honestly, I use this for film and TV auditions as well— but before the scene starts, I figure out what is going on with my character that gives me a reason to say my first line. So let's just say, for instance, I am running late for a meeting and I have to run up 2 flights of stairs. Actually, I just parked 2 blocks away and I run into the meeting and my first line is something like, hey, I'm really sorry I'm late. Okay, so if I just started the scene with, I'm really sorry I'm late, in this TV commercial, then it doesn't really have that much impact. But if I figured out ahead of time my alarm didn't go off, I slept through the alarm, traffic was Absolutely horrible. My kid spilled something on his clothes and I— now we have to change clothes. Whatever it is, I'm running late, I'm running up the steps. And so now when I go into the meeting, it's, hey, I'm really sorry I'm late. Now it feels more real to me because I understand what took place. Okay, that's tip number 1. Tip number 2. Here's something that is so powerful. And look, test it out. You know, just use a cell phone or whatever you record things on and see how these next 2 tips work for you. Sometimes they might feel a little subtle. I think they're really powerful. So let's say this is another TV spot and it's for soup and it's, this is great, can we have it again tomorrow? So what I like to do Is, uh, I'm physically ready. I'm in the right position. I always like to have one shoulder slightly closer to the camera. My head is slightly tilted to my back shoulder. Then what I will do before I say the word this, I will think of a word or a keyword or a sound that gives me a reason to say the first word. So I might just say, wow. Wow. So I'm going to say it out loud just so you guys can hear it. During the audition or during the performance, which is when I would use it again, nobody hears it. Microphone doesn't pick it up. So, but I'll do it out loud so you guys can hear it. So I'm going to slightly look over here and I'm going to do, wow, this is great! Can we have it again tomorrow? And just by saying the word wow It feels like I'm in the middle of a conversation, which is what you need to have happen for any scene. You're talking to somebody, you're listening to somebody, you're reacting to somebody. So find a keyword or a sound. You're not going to turn away and do a monologue. It's really, really quick. Here's the last part. Here's the 3rd tip. I always split The first word in half. So the first half of the word is going to be off camera. So the TH is over here, IS is into the camera, because when you're working on TV commercials, you do look into the camera, uh, as opposed to film and TV when— except for a couple of minor exceptions, you never do. So let me show you once again. I'm going to say all the stuff out loud. Uh, there's my keyword, it's wow, and then it's going to be, this is great, can we have it again tomorrow? So the TH is over here, the IS is into the camera. Let me tell you why that's so powerful. Because when people are watching the commercial, they are going to see you engaged in a conversation away from them. Because the TH, the first half of the word, is over here. They want to know more about what's going on here, and now you invite them in. So as a little homework assignment, practice it. You know, try using a keyword, splitting the first word in half off camera and then the second half of the word into the camera. And do me a favor, let me know what you think. Leave a comment on the channel here. And And by the way, if you have any other audition tips, please share them here. That's the whole point of the channel, with fellow actors learning, sharing information so we can all learn from each other. So test it out, and once again, let us know. I did promise, and you'll see it right up here— I had to move my finger over a little bit— it's right up here, and you're going to find the link for the Special bonus, how I unexpectedly booked an HBO show. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
