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Aaron Marcus shows why actors stumble on their first line and how to fix it with a "pre-line whisper," a silent phrase you say to yourself before speaking to set your character's emotional state and sound more natural.
Aaron Marcus shows why actors stumble on their first line and how to fix it with a "pre-line whisper," a silent phrase you say to yourself before speaking to set your character's emotional state and sound more natural.
In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you why most actors fail their first line and how to fix it. Watch this to the end. I've got a really good bonus video for you. It's 9 huge actors' tax write-offs and other really helpful tax tips. 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. Before I share this really simple but powerful auditioning tip with you, I want to make sure you know I've got a new website, howtoactandmodel.com, and if you sign up to be on my mailing list, you can receive this free incredible video. It's 6 Tips to Mastering Your Home Auditions, and you really want to watch this. So lots of actors have different ideas about auditioning, and this is just one very simple one, but boy, it is really powerful. What I always do— and it doesn't matter if it's film, TV, TV commercial, doesn't make any difference— I typically never start On the first word of the line. So now I'm not going to just add dialogue in there, that's not my job. I'm not the writer. But here's what I will do. I think of a word, a couple of words, a really short phrase. I mean, this thing will take a second, and I'll demonstrate it for you, that I'll say to myself. It does not get recorded, the microphone will not pick it up. And I say that before I say my first word of the line. And it's something that will help prepare me, something that will put me in the right place so that I can deliver the line exactly the way that I want. And it makes it sound more conversational. So let's say— and actually, I've got some sides here. Let me take a look at them. So, so let's say the sides are, I've briefed, I briefed Mr. Smith on what he will and will not say. Okay, so instead of just starting off— and by the way, if it's film or TV, I'm not going to be looking to the lens of the camera, so I'm going to look camera left over here. So instead of just starting the audition with I've briefed— I've briefed Mr. Smith on what he will and will not say. Okay, so instead of doing that, because I know that this character that I'm reading for, he's, he's a little bit angry with his boss who's, who's sharing information with him, and he feels a little aggravated. And so instead of just saying, I've briefed It's more like, yeah, I know, I've briefed him. So, so that's what I'm going to do. So I'm going to look away from the camera slightly, look and not even be in my opening spot of where I'm going to be looking. So I might even just— my body's in the right position, but I just might look down, I might look over here, and then come back to this spot to start the first line. But when I look away And I'll say it out loud just so you can hear it, but once again, the microphone would never pick this up. I might say something like, yeah, I know, I've briefed Mr.— you know, I've briefed Mr. Smith. So I'll say it out loud, do it for you so you can hear it. Yeah, I know, I've briefed Mr. Smith on what he can and cannot say. Now I'll do it without you being able to hear it. I've briefed Mr. Smith on what he can and cannot say. So just by adding those couple of words— and once again, when I say adding, it's just to myself— it immediately puts me into the emotional framework of where I want to be when I deliver that first line. I'm telling you, it's powerful. I'm curious if you have ever used this, please share it, uh, in the description section here on the channel. Or if you have a really helpful tip that will make our auditions more powerful, please share it here with us as well so that way we can learn from you. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, Click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded. And if you like it, give it a thumbs up. That's actually very helpful. And share, share the love with your fellow actors. I did promise there was a bonus video for you. If you just look right up here and look, tax season's coming up. You want to learn everything you can about taking legal deductions. And I'm going to share some of those things with you. I have a disclaimer in there too. I'm not a CPA, and so you definitely want to check everything out with a tax professional before you fill out your taxes and use all these ideas. But I can just tell you, they've been told to me by my accountant, and so far things have worked out really well. So anyhow, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
