The Dive Podcast
Welcome to The Dive Podcast
Hey, I’m Taylor Scanlan—a Musical Theatre performer with over 10 years of experience, and the creator of The Aligned Performer, a community-led business dedicated to helping emerging artists like you step into the industry with confidence and clarity.
This podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the performing arts world.
Whether you’re preparing for auditions, managing self-doubt, or figuring out how to sustain a long-term career, The Dive Podcast is here to guide you.
Here’s what you can expect:
🎭 Live Q&A Episodes: Every other week, I’ll answer your questions directly, sharing insights and strategies to help you move forward.
🎤 Industry Expert Interviews: On alternate weeks, I sit down with seasoned professionals who share their journeys, actionable advice, and what they’ve learned about thriving in this industry.
If you’re ready to build confidence, master your mindset, and create a sustainable, fulfilling career in the arts, you’re in the right place.
Let’s dive in together! 🎭✨
The Dive Podcast
38: Auditions - Why Do We Get So Nervous?
If you’ve ever stood outside an audition room with your heart racing, hands shaking, and thought to yourself, “Why am I so nervous? I’ve trained for years for this!”—then this episode is for you.
In this episode, we’re breaking down the science behind nerves, the fight-or-flight response, and how you can rewire your brain through neuroplasticity to actually handle auditions better over time. Plus, I’m sharing some of my go-to breathwork techniques, visualization exercises, and mindset shifts that will help you stay grounded and centred in the audition room.
So if you’re ready to stop letting nerves control your performance and start enjoying the audition process, this episode has everything you need. 🎶💃
🔑 In this episode, you’ll learn:
1. Why we get nervous in auditions (and how to understand it instead of fear it).
2. Practical tools to manage nerves, including breathwork and grounding techniques.
3. How to shift your mindset from nervous to excited and confident.
4. Why visualization is a game-changer for audition success.
5. How to approach auditions as exciting opportunities, not scary tests!
✨ Resources to help you even more:
• Audition Prep Workbook: Get access to my step-by-step workbook that helps you map out your best-case audition scenario and build confidence from the inside out.
• Masterclass Alert: Coming soon! I’ll be hosting a masterclass on how to transition from graduate to full-time professional performer.
Keep an eye out! 🎓🎭
Let me know if you try any of these tools at your next audition or even in class! I LOVE hearing from you, so drop a comment or send me a DM about your experiences. We’re all in this together, and you’ve got everything you need to shine.
You totally got this!
—Taylor ✨
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Hello, welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host, taylor Scanlon, and if you're tuning in today, it's probably because you've been in that nerve wracking spot where you're standing outside an audition room and your heart is racing, the hands are shaking and you're really just wondering why am I so nervous, after I've actually trained five plus years to actually go and do the thing? But all of a sudden you're out the front of the, you're in the audition room and you can't control this overwhelming sense of nerves Today. That's what the episode is all about, so we're going to dive deep into why we actually get nervous in auditions and during audition season and what's actually happening in your body and your brain and, most importantly, how we can actually take control over these nerves and turn them into confidence. If you've ever been asking yourself why do I feel like this, even though I've put so much work in and I feel so prepared, or maybe you're thinking how can I actually stop my nerves from taking over and enjoy the audition process, then stick around. This episode is for you. We'll be covering all of it today and give you some practical tools you can start to implement right away to ground yourself and actually have fun in the audition room.
Speaker 1:All right, so let's get straight into it. Why do we actually get nervous in the first place? See, the truth is that nerves are actually completely normal and first off, I just want to say that every single person experiences nerves in audition. If someone out there says I'm never nervous in auditions, I can guarantee you from a psychological, physiological aspect, they're probably lying. We've all felt levels of nerves going into an audition sense and maybe just over the. What you're able to build is a bit more of an understanding of where your body is and how to actually regulate those nerves so that you don't feel as nervous in it. But just know that an audition scenario is nerve wracking. So know that this episode is going to just help you understand how that all works. So yeah, like I said, the truth is nerves are completely natural. Your body is actually doing what it's designed to do in a high pressure situation. It's actually trying to keep you safe. So that's actually reassuring, because when we're going into an audition, we're going oh, I just don't want to be nervous, I want to be good, but it's actually just your body trying to keep you safe. And here's the actual thing your brain doesn't actually know the difference between an audition panel and a like saber tooth tiger right, that's standing right in front of you. I know it sounds a bit silly, a bit funny, but let's dive into it a bit more. Your brain is wired for survival. Into it a bit more. Your brain is wired for survival. Our brains are wired for survival.
Speaker 1:So when you walk into an audition which is an unfamiliar and an uncertain environment, you don't know how you're going to sing or what they're expecting or what the dance is going to be it can be a lot and when you're in that uncertainty and unfamiliarity environment, your brain literally says, oh, this could be dangerous. And so what happens is it triggers something within you called the fight flight or freeze response. So let's just break it down quickly. When you feel your heart racing, when you're in an audition, and maybe your hands are shaking, sweating, even your breath starts to get a bit short and sharp, that's your brain actually sending signals to your body saying get ready for action, because it doesn't know what's going to happen. Just if you had a saber-toothed tiger in front of you that you don't know if they're about to run at you, if they're going to turn away, your brain is going right, there's something that's about to happen. I need to be ready for action. And it's your amygdala in your brain, the part of the brain that processes fear, that's actually sounding this alarm in your body. Then what happens is your hypothalamus in your brain actually jumps in and activates your sympathetic nervous system, which basically just tells your body that we need to either run away or we need to stand and fight. So there's a few things in the body that's happening in the sense of an audition and that's just wild to know that's actually happening in your body, whether we know it or not. I just love learning about this and I wanted to come on today and share with you a little bit more about it, because if you gain a little bit more understanding and awareness around it, you're actually able to understand that, a, it's a normal process and, b, when you have the awareness of, oh, this is just what's happening in my body, I understand that's gonna happen. Then you're able to actually process it and go through some of the tools and practices that we'll go through today to help you regulating it down and to tell, ultimately, your body and your brain that it is safe.
Speaker 1:In saying that, what I've just summarized is that when you're in an audition, we're not in front of a saber-toothed tiger, we're not actually in danger, it's just an audition. You're not running around and you're not. Sometimes we're running around dying, but in the true sense. If you were just to take your head out of the water a little bit and get a bit of overview perspective, everything's going to be fine. We're going in, you're going to dance, you're maybe going to sing, maybe going to do a little bit of both, and then your day is going to continue on. So by gaining a little bit more perspective of it, that actually can help automatically lower a little bit of the nerves that happen in the body.
Speaker 1:See, the thing is what we do, especially when we're starting out, we put so much added pressure into that moment. So then what happens is that our nerves and everything only heighten because we put so much pressure into doing so well that if we don't in that uncertainty environment yeah, we've just added this, all this onto it, so it makes it even worse the nervous system that's going in and doesn't feel safe, it doesn't feel certain. But here is the crazy thing there's actually no danger. It's just an audition. You're just coming in to dance and sing, which is something you've actually done for a long time, just in an environment where you did feel a bit more safe. So when we're in an audition sense it's something that's unfamiliar You're with, maybe choreographers you've not worked with before, it's in a different environment, maybe a different studio that you're not used to going to. So automatically, by actually showing up to a space that's unfamiliar, this part of your nervous system and your brain is activating because it's just unfamiliar. It's not wrong, it's just unfamiliar, but just know that we're actually not in danger, and that's the crazy thing. So how can we actually tell our bodies to and our minds that it is safe, so that we can perform really well?
Speaker 1:Your brain loves certainty, it loves routine things it knows how to handle, and when it comes to auditions they're literally the opposite of that. Every audition is new. If you've had experience auditioning already, every single one is different and so actually going into that and seeing new people, new environments, new expectations, different material, your brain sees this as a massive unknown, which then goes back and triggers this stress response. So you actually have an amazing part of the brain. A little bit more in the science and then we'll get into the pack, I promise, is that there's an amazing part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex which is basically where we. It's the rational brain, it's the calm part of your brain, it's where you make decisions, where you plan things and that's where your focus happens.
Speaker 1:So the prefrontal cortex is actually the thing that we want in control in the audition. But the problem is that the amygdala, our fear center, hijacks this system and that's when we start to feel like we are out of control. And if you've ever had an audition I've had several where you literally go in and you come out and you're like what just happened? That's your amygdala, just like taking the reins. So we want that part of the brain, which is the prefrontal cortex, to jump in, to take the front seat. So we do have some good news in this we can actually train our brain to stay calm and let our prefrontal cortex to take the lead, literally going darling, tell the amygdala to chill out. We need to get you running the show. Yeah, let's get into understanding a little bit more about the neuroplasticity of this. So if you've never heard that word before, neuroplasticity means that with practice we can literally rewire. I find this so fascinating. We can rewire our brains to handle auditions better, so that is actually really reassuring. So know that, because every audition is different, you actually have an amazing opportunity to start to rewire connections in your brain to actually handle auditions better and better each time, and the more you practice learning how to calm your nervous system which we'll do today the easier it will become to do what you need to do in that high stake moment. Okay, so, now that we know a little bit more about why we get nervous and what's happening in the brain, let's talk about some practical tools you can use to stay grounded when you're there and take control during your audition experience.
Speaker 1:So one of the easiest and most effective ways to calm your nervous system is through your breath. I have been teaching yoga for a little while, both online and in person. I've done about 400 hours in yoga teacher training and it's something that I have found really helps my nervous system. It always brings me back to the present moment and allows me to disconnect from my brain and gets me into my body, and one part of yoga that I learned was breath work and the power that it has over our nervous system. It's actually a direct link into our nervous system when you actually take deep, slow breaths. If someone's come up to you and says, oh, just breathe deep or take a few deep breaths, let's actually unpack. That it's actually telling your brain hey, it's all good, we're safe.
Speaker 1:So before you walk into a room, let's try this simple breathing exercise. So just take a moment, if it's safe to do so, close your eyes and just calm down the body a little bit, and you can just use this simple practice at any point in time when you feel you just need to ground. This is a practice that I do at any point I'm feeling like things are a bit overwhelming and just to bring you back into center. So notice the in and out flow of your breath, not trying to change it at all, just noticing it. It can be nice to put one hand on your belly and maybe one hand on your chest and just noticing the rise and fall of your breath, acknowledge that you are breathing, that you are human, that you're not a machine, which we sometimes like to treat our bodies like.
Speaker 1:And then, when it feels safe to do so, we are going to do a breathing practice very quick and all you need to do is we'll breathe in for four counts. We'll hold for four counts and then we're going to exhale for six counts. We're going to do it just a few times and just notice how your heart rate will begin to slow down and slowly, bit by bit, your mind will start to clear. So when you're ready, we'll inhale for one, two, three, four and pause. Two, three, four and then exhale two, three, four, five, six and inhale two, two, three, four and exhale all the air out of the belly. Four, five, six deeper into the belly. Two, three, four and pause two, three, four, exhale all the air out three, four, five, six, one more. Inhale two, three, four and pause two, three, four and exhale out all the air as much as you can, squeezing in the belly, getting all that exhale out of the breath and then return to just your normal breath.
Speaker 1:If you close your eyes, you can open your eyes now and just take a little bit of inventory. How do you feel? Do you feel a little bit more calm? Do you feel a little bit more, less stressed, and just know if the mind is still racing a little bit. That is totally normal. This is a practice overall, but this some really cool science about this. All that you need to know is that when you actually exhale longer than you inhale, you actually activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the opposite of that fight and flight response. Before we were in this heightened sense where we needed to either fight or run away. But with this practice exercise where we're exhaling longer than we inhale, we actually signal to our brain and our body to chill out and to calm down, because when we're actually in a calm and safe environment, our bodies naturally exhale longer than we inhale, and vice versa, for in a high pressure situation we usually inhale sharper, quicker, more than we exhale. So by actually using your power of your breath, which is completely free, you can use this exercise at any point and if you felt that this exercise has helped you in any way, please send me a message and use it in auditions.
Speaker 1:There's times where I've used just a simple noticing the breath, inhaling through the nose and out through the nose, and just utilizing the exhale more. As I'm learning choreography, I found that my brain is a lot more tuned in. So this is one of the easiest and most effective ways to calm your nervous system through your breath. And when you really understand that, by taking intentional deep breaths, slow breaths. You then just continue to tell your brain that it's safe, it's all good, and you can start to move forward with a little bit more awareness. Like I said, I do this all the time and I actually remember one audition where I was feeling super jittery. I just didn't know what to do with my body. I think I don't know exactly which one it was, but I remember just feeling like the nerves were just overtaking a bit and I was like hold on. I didn't even know if I even wanted the show that bad. Anyway, I just remember stepping outside a little bit before going in and taking a few mindful breaths like this, even just for two minutes, and I just walked back in like I was. I felt like a completely different person. It allowed me to just quickly center in, and I've also used this on the train going into work, when I've had to go on for a cover that I've never been on before.
Speaker 1:Just tap back into your breath. It's something that you don't have to even tune into from the outside. You don't need to pay anyone. This is an exercise that you don't have to even tune into from the outside. You don't need to pay anyone. This is an exercise that you can start to develop and, trust me, you will start to see immediate impact and immediate results.
Speaker 1:So let's get into a fun trick. So did you know that the nervous system and excitement actually feel pretty much the same in the body? So when you're feeling really excited oh, I'm so excited, this is going to happen nerves actually in the body. So when you're feeling really excited oh, I'm so excited, this is gonna happen nerves actually in the body feel and present themselves very similar. So it's all about actually how you label things. So let's get into a little bit about reframing and how this can impact and help you.
Speaker 1:So, instead of telling yourself I'm nervous and this is gonna be terrible a lot of the time, because, again, if we go back to the start, we're just wanting to be safe. Our body likes certainty, our brain loves certainty, it wants to know that it's going to be okay. And if you've particularly had a bad experience in a past audition, you're now bringing that experience into this one and just know you don't have to be. Know that this is a completely new audition. This is a completely new experience. It's all got to do with how you present yourself and how you actually walk into that moment and you have complete control over that.
Speaker 1:So, trying this, if you now know that excitement and nerves are similar in the body you can start to shift into, instead of saying I'm nervous, you can A just go okay, I'm feeling a little bit nervous, but I'm also really excited. So by actually reframing this, you'll be amazed at how this tiny shift can actually start to trick your brain into relaxing. Because when you are excited, you're actually telling your brain that you want to be there. It's putting yourself into I'm ready to fight, I'm ready to like, I really want to be here, as opposed to when we're feeling nervous and unsure, we back away and don't show up as our best selves. So another way that you can stay grounded is by doing a quick physical grounding exercise. So right before you walk into the room, just press your feet firmly onto the ground. Say to your body we are here.
Speaker 1:A simple tool that I love to do even is to actually rock up to an audition, 20 to 30 minutes before they say. Science says that it takes about 20 minutes for your body to regulate to a new environment. If you actually rock up, if you've got five minutes to spare, your nervous system is still trying to take on all the outside information to actually regulate, to be in that environment. I saw this it was a video or a doctor said if you're coming home from work or a stressful day, sometimes it's actually really nice to just tell your partner or your family, if possible, to just give you 20 minutes so you can just allow yourself to come home, leave whatever you've just gone through if it's been particularly hard or anything on and outside the door so you can just be home with where you need to be. This is just so powerful and I've even started to implement this into coming to work. I go to work a lot earlier, just so you can start to tell your nervous system that, okay, we're in this environment, this is where we need to be.
Speaker 1:So a last little note on nerves and how you can stay a little bit more grounded and navigate. It is visualization To on nerves and how you can stay a little bit more grounded and navigate. It is visualization To any of my people out there, that students out there and anyone that follows this podcast. If you are into visualization or you're even just able to learn visually, if you find that you find yourself that you really excel when it comes to visually seeing something to learn. This is going to be a really powerful exercise that you can do.
Speaker 1:So I want you to close your eyes, if it's safe to do so again, and just picture yourself walking into that audition room with confidence. Start to see the panel smiling back at you. See yourself nailing the song, that monologue, whatever it is. Actually picture the whole entire room loving your performance. This actually primes your brain for the success that you're looking for, and so when you actually walk in, you already feel like you've got it, because you've mentally rehearsed for your brain to start looking for those signs. And this isn't about just visualize it and then it's just going to happen.
Speaker 1:Really get into the feeling of it, because right now, I guarantee you, nine times out of ten we're going into auditions, going oh, there's no way I'm going to be as good as that person, or a lot of the nine times out of ten, we're not actually focusing on what can go really well. What if you smash this audition? How would that feel? What if the panel love you? What if you're the exact person that they're looking for? Like? How amazing would that feel? And then I really love to play this part because there is that sense of.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're asking, taylor, if I go in there and I'm positive and I vision that it's all going to go well and parts of it don't, what was the point? And my point to tell you, isn't it so much better to go in with the right frame of mind that's supporting you, that's expecting a good result, and then, if you fumble, you go oh, I can work on that. Then go into it with super negative and mindset that you can never do those things and then have that pressure added pressure onto the audition experience itself. So it's actually got more to do with, like, how you process the audition experience and I guarantee you, if you can just start to position your mindset in a way that's actually going to support you from the beginning, before you've even jumped in, you're actually, a going to do a lot better and, b you're actually going to enjoy the process a lot more, because you're going to be priming your brain to look for things that are in your visualization, picturing yourself nailing the song, doing better than you thought in the dance round. And again, when we're going back to the science of the brain and the body, your brain doesn't actually know the difference between past, present and future. It's only ever in the present, and when you start to see and visualize in your brain things going the way you want them, your brain and your body actually start to look for those things. So the opportunities start to present themselves and you actually will start to see a massive shift in the actions that you take.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's wrap up with a bit of a mindset shift for us, and I want you to start thinking about auditions as opportunities. I think they're already nerve-wracking, right, and I think, when it comes to the mindset shift that is going to most best support you first of all just acknowledge if you don't love auditioning, that's totally fine. There are lots, and there are a lot to go through, especially when each of them is so different. It's oh, how can I get ahead of this? Because it's always changing. So I want you to start thinking about them as just opportunities. So I want you to start thinking about them as just opportunities. What opportunity is this presenting for me? And that is a really cool thing to go in with, because these are the moments to show up, these are the moments to have fun, this is the moment to express and give yourself and showcase the things that you've been working on.
Speaker 1:So casting directors and the panel really want to see who you are. They're actually rooting for you. They want the best people in their production and so they actually want you to succeed. No one is there like wishing you would do bad, like they want the best of the best there. So, if we're coming in, imagine if you were interviewing someone and they didn't believe in themselves and they didn't feel like they were up to doing it or they don't believe that they would do. You probably wouldn't hire them right, because you, as a, as a business owner, want the best possible people, people that believe in themselves and believe in the production that they're presenting. It's not about being perfect at the end of the day, it's just about showing your personality and what you can uniquely bring to that production.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the next time you step into a room I hope that this episode has given you a little bit more understanding of why we're getting nervous and just remember to take that deep breath, that mindful breath, start to exhale more than you inhale and use it as a chance to play. Know that you have nothing to lose and something to gain from each audition and just know that you've got everything you need to shine. Trust in your abilities, trust in that all the training that you've done has led you to this moment. So this is a moment for you to own that room, own what you have to share and give it your all. So, yeah, that's a wrap up for today. I hope this episode has given you some insights into why we get nervous. More importantly, that's a wrap up for today. I hope this episode has given you some insights into why we get nervous. More importantly, how to control these nerves, and remember that auditions are just that step, one extra step in the journey. They're not the be all, end all. And with these tools today, I just hope that you're going to be able to walk in with the room and feeling a little bit more grounded, confident. Confident and ready to have some fun, as always.
Speaker 1:If you feel like these tips today have been helpful, I'd love for you to give them a try at your next audition or even in class. If you're feeling like you want to start practicing them now and DM me, message me. I love hearing from the community. I get messages nearly every other day about an episode or a resource. If you're looking for more resources, in particular, in workbooks. I have an audition prep workbook, which we actually help you map out your best case scenario and build actions from that so that you can go in with a clear head and with the confidence that you need. That will be accessible either through my website and all the links will be in below of this podcast episode. There's other resources that are happening there and things coming out. There's an upcoming masterclass where I'm presenting how to go from being a graduate to being a full-time professional performer. Stay on the lookout for that, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. You totally got this.