What Actors Can Learn From Door-to-Door Salesmen - by Robert Curtiss

One summer, during my college years, I was a door-to-door book salesman. I truly hated it — I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone! However, one thing has stuck in my mind from the days I spent in training for that job. Our trainer used to always say: “Every ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes.’ ” The trainer acknowledged that we would have many doors slammed in our faces, and we would probably be intimidated, fearful, and discouraged. He said, though, that you could keep your spirits up and keep going if you just remembered the odds: Most people would not buy the product, but some would. That meant that you would mostly hear “no” and occasionally hear a “yes.” Every time someone said “no” you were to thank them, for they brought you one “no” closer to that “yes” you were definitely going to hear!

This is a great life lesson, for you as an actor and as a person for anything you set out to do in life. When you interview a representative, and they are not interested in working with you; when you keep auditioning and still do not get cast; when you invite industry people to your show and no one comes — these are all versions of hearing “no.” If you are persistent, if you keep at it, and if you make sure you are good at what you do, sooner or later you will get that “yes.” You will get the job, get that representative, etc. When you do something, don’t get discouraged each time you hit a roadblock, or hear someone say “no.” Keep at it, and all those no’s will lead you closer to getting a “yes”! 

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What Do You Do When You Have a Bad Reader at an Audition?

Well, here you are, you've just arrived at your audition – and early, to boot! Now you have time to relax, go over your lines again, and freshen up! You look great, you feel great…bring it on!

The monitor calls your name, and you confidently enter the audition room. You exchange pleasantries as well as brief introductions. You notice there are two chairs facing the "casting table," and a reader is already seated. You are asked to begin your scene.

You begin your scene with your reader, and as you progress into the scene you realize, this reader is awful! You can barely hear him/her, you get no eye contact, and worse of all, there is no emotional connection between the two of you.

Stay calm! You have worked on this scene, and you know where the emotional connections are.

Whatever you do, don’t shrink to the level of this bad reader. If you try too hard to connect to this reader, you risk being sucked into his/her low-energy, lack-of-connection vortex, and then you would be doing yourself a great disservice. The "casting people" will see your acting with those limitations, and they will assume that that is the best you can do.

You must trudge on – imagining that you are getting everything you need from this reader. In fact, you can use his/her lack of engagement to increase your determination to convince/connect with him/her.

Remember, this kind of communication happens all the time in real life. You are upset about something your significant other did, and when you passionately try to explain it to him/her, he/she shuts down. But you still go on, trying to make them understand!

It is the same in an audition with a bad reader. You just have to go on and be passionately engaged in what you are doing – becoming even more determined to get them to hear you, react to you, while still being authentic and "in the moment."

You should prepare in advance for the possibility of an inadequate reader. Rehearse your material as if your partner is awful, or if you are rehearsing with a partner, ask him/her to read a few times with little or no emotion so you are able to “adjust” your performance accordingly. Use it as an opportunity to exercise your acting skills!

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