10 Audition Pointers and Casting Tips To prepare for your hosting script:

1. Practice makes perfect. Read through your script a few times full voice without inflection to get it into your body.

2. Be prepared. Make sure you memorize the first and last line of the script as well as the show name. At the very least, those things (including your name) need to be delivered into camera, without requiring you to look at your sides/copy.

3. Know your territory. Determine what makes this show or subject more distinctive, interesting, or fun than other shows that cover similar territory. If it’s a product or service, think about how it will make the viewer’s life more affordable, fun, easier, or better. Underline those things so you remember to give them more energy and emphasis.

4. Give credit. Make sure to give a little extra emphasis to the show or product name, your name, and anyone else’s name that appears in the copy/ sides. They need extra power and energy from you as well.

5. Live spirit. If you ask a question in the copy, make it a real question! You should look like you want to know the answer as badly as the audience does.

6. If you are listing things in your script, make each thing you list different. My two easy ways to do this are to either make the list build, or give each thing on the list a different inflection or color so it lives on its own and the list doesn’t just start to all run together in the viewer’s mind.

7. Proper introduction. If you are at a location in the script, take a beat when you are talking about being in that place and look around for a second to take in your environment. “Hello, I’m XXX and we are at the Aztec ruins ...” If you take a second to acknowledge that you are at a place with your eye-line (i.e., look around), it will transport us there too and we will feel like you are in that place.

8. Don’t get bogged down with punctuation or paragraph breaks. Those are in there because the script has to be written that way. Just because there is a period doesn’t mean you have to pause. Just because there is a new paragraph doesn’t mean you have to give a longer pause. Throw all that away. We don’t always talk with punctuation, so you just need to read the script in a way that registers as natural and compelling.

9. Practice, practice, practice! If there is ANYTHING in the copy you don’t know ... how to pronounce something, someone’s name, the history of what you are talking about, who someone is, etc. ... look it up! Set yourself up for success and it will not only prepare you for the audition, it will put you ahead of the competition.

10. Professionalism at all times. When you get to the end of the script, deliver it like an end. Even if you are “tossing” (passing the segment) to another host, a package, or a commercial, you want the handoff to be smooth and powerful.

For more on the main areas of auditions, check out the all-new book, "The Ultimate On-Camera Guidebook" by Jacquie Jordan and Shannon O'Dowd.

About Author:

Shannon O’Dowd is an on-camera host, commercial spokesperson, & media training/on-camera instructor. Shannon has been working on both sides of the camera for well over a decade. I eat, sleep, and breath on-camera training and coaching. I Literally wrote the book on how to prepare and embellish your on-camera performance. Finding talent managers and eventually agents means focusing on building out your resume, headshots, and sizzle reel. Having on-camera training can get you ready for the audition. I go above and beyond for my clients and teach up and coming professionals and established talent all over the Los Angeles area. Reach out! I want to continue to build a thriving community of entertainers.

Shannon O’Dowd is one of the best TV hosts and spokesperson in the Los Angeles area. Shannon has high standards when it comes to providing the end user with high quality content through her published book, articles, and services.