September 1, 2024 • 32 mins
Want to stand out in every audition?
In this episode, I break down the mindset shifts, confidence boosters, and authenticity hacks you need to make your mark in musical theatre. If you’re ready to crush self-doubt and elevate your performance game, this one’s for you!
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
•How to boost confidence and calm nerves before auditions
•The power of authenticity and how to showcase your true self
•Effective techniques for constructive post-audition reflection
•Tips to overcome self-doubt and imposter syndrome
•How to focus on steady, consistent growth for long-term success
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Free community with tools to support your journey.
Click here to join now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back to the Dive Podcast.
I'm so excited that you're here.
Today's episode is a little bitdifferent, as I wanted to share
with you a webinar interviewthat I did with one of my
greatest long-term friends,talia Burt.
She has built an incredibleplatform called Bulletproof and
she's a personal trainer.
(00:21):
She's a resident choreographer.
She's all of the amazing thingswhen it comes to looking after
your body, and when I was askedto actually come onto her
platform, I actually trainedwith her with her platform,
bulletproof, and we basicallyconnected and came on a live
webinar with her community, andTalia came on and asked me
(00:43):
questions about auditions,nerves, how to combat the nerves
in the audition, the do's anddon'ts of auditioning, and you
gain a little bit more insightinto my own story with
auditioning and a little bitmore insight into what that
means for you.
So I hope you enjoy the episode.
It is a juicy one, so if youhave a pen and paper, definitely
(01:06):
get that out, because there's alot of great insights.
Sometimes I don't even knowwhere they come from, so you'll
want to make sure that you havesome time to go through it and
see how it resonates with you.
As always, have the best timeand I hope you enjoy the episode
.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I'm really, really, really excited about this
conversation today becauseTaylor I'll let him introduce
himself to you in a second butTaylor and I go so way back in
our I don't know journey, if youwill together and he's put
together an incredible communitythat I really think is going to
(01:40):
help you and you're going tofind value in it.
And just the information thathe's going to be able to share
with you today about stuff thatstresses us out like that
audition world right, it's soincredibly stressful sometimes.
So, learning how to navigatethat and have some tools, tips
and tricks to you know, check inwith the old noggin and make
sure that the mentals are in theright place with all of it.
So, without further ado, mycute little Tay Tay, thank you
(02:03):
for being here.
Let's jump straight in.
I want you to tell everyone alittle bit about who you are,
where you started, what yourcareer is currently looking like
.
Ready set go.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Boom, oh, so good.
Well, thank you so much forholding the space for everyone
what you have built we were justtalking then.
I've really watched andsupported Talia from the ground
up of what she's been creating.
So everyone that's insideBulletproof, or everything that
she is about.
She is literally the top of hergame of what she's talking
about, so you're so lucky to beinvolved with.
(02:35):
But yes, my name is TaylorScanlon.
I'm an Australian, if youhaven't picked up on the accent
yet, and I have been in musicaltheatre for over 10 years now
and I trained in Melbourne,australia, for about six years
specifically in dance, actuallynot in musical theatre.
I was the person literally inthe back when it got to musical
theatre class going.
(02:55):
Are you kidding me?
Who wants to be involved inthat bullshit?
Basically, excuse my French, Ijust thought it was so boring.
Why would you want to do that?
And then I was actuallyconvinced to rock up to a cat's
audition and it was all dance.
So I got into the industry, notby mistake, but really just
like tricked into it, and then Ifell in love with it and I saw
(03:16):
what it really was and thecommunity and the money, because
I was very not earning a lot ofmoney, wanting to be a
contemporary dancer, so I waslike, oh okay, I could make a
life out of this, and so I'vebeen doing that for the past 10
years.
I met Talia with Cats, theMusical we together.
we've probably done it, I don'teven know how many times, how
(03:37):
many times yeah, too many, toomany times and it's just been a
really really fun ride.
And of course there's been manyups and downs and many things
to navigate, but in whole it'sjust been really cool to be
super open to more possibilitiesand see where life takes you,
because you just never, neverknow.
(03:58):
And actually it was the pointin my life when I was starting
out where I was feeling that thebest direction was to
pigeonhole and just to be like,no, I want to be this sort of
thing, thinking that it wouldhelp, but actually limited all
the opportunities that weresurrounding me.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So now I'm just like wide open to what's coming
around, which is actuallyhilarious because your cats
experience I mean, for those ofyou that have either done cats,
if you're watching this oryou've seen Cats, you know how
wild and wonderful and versatileeverything with regards to Cats
is.
So if you were trying topigeonhole yourself, you said
yes to the wrong job.
Right?
We started out what?
(04:34):
We were both swings on it.
No, we were.
We did twin stuff.
I can't remember.
I flew in and replaced someonein the show because I had done
it previously and we connected.
We were the twins on Cats andthen thereafter, you went on to
doing swing work and thenassistant dance captain and then
dance captain, and then youwere my dance captain when I was
(04:54):
residenting it in 2020.
So wild and wonderful.
I want you to share witheveryone about your process of
going from ensemble to ADC DCand then all of the work that
you're currently doing.
How did that kind of happen foryou?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, sure, well, so I actually was an ensemble
member first for La Cage auxFolles, which was kind of a
short run here in Melbourne, itwas only like six weeks.
So that was like the first stepinto musicals that I got at the
end of my first year oftraining.
We just call it training, Ithink it's like college or
whatever over in the UK.
And then it was my second yearthat I went and did Cats and I
(05:33):
was in the ensemble, so I wasjust covering a few people, but
not ADC or DC, and it wasactually straight after that I
actually did a side little noteof Matthew Bourne show when he
came here and did Lord of theFlies.
So I did that, gave mycontemporary heart out on that,
and then I went back to Cats andI actually was asked to be
dance captain for that run.
(05:54):
So I've actually done a fewthings where I've been dance
captain.
I was dance captain of Cats for, I think, two or three tours
and then I actually played likea minor lead in a show in
Australia.
I'm in Charlie and ChocolateFactory, I was Mike TV,
hilarious.
And then I actually went anddid Mary Poppins just recently
(06:15):
and I was the assistant dancecaptain to a DC and then now
currently I'm assistant dancecaptain again for Sunset
Boulevard over here in Australiaand how that kind of
progression I guess has happenedis when I started to become
more of a swing.
That was definitely somethingthat I really really loved to do
and if you've ever had anexperience, or get an experience
, being a swing, when you goback to doing one role, it's
(06:37):
either like something that youreally really want or something
that you really don't want.
I always say that if you'refiguring out whether you want to
be a swing or not, you'll knowvery quickly if it's the you or
not.
But it was definitely somethingthat was a yes for me and that
was just kind of in bonus withDance Captain Judy's, because I
don't know if it's differentover in the UK, but in Australia
(06:58):
a lot of the time the DanceCaptain is one of the swings.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
It's hard to be a DC if you'reat the show because you know you
don't see it, you're like, thisis so messed and I'm just going
to live in it.
So I want to dive into theaudition process and I want you
to chat about the dive, which isTaylor's company that he's
running at the moment, and howthose two things link together.
I don't know how many of yousaw the social media content
that I posted about yesterdayand I got a little link to his
(07:23):
page, but Tay has created thisincredible, incredible community
for performers and rages aboutsupporting them right In all
avenues of the industry.
That result to mental health,audition prep, making sure that
you are, like on top of yourgame Mentally, physically,
emotionally.
That's it.
I want to know about exactlywhat it is that you guys do, and
(07:47):
then we're going to dive intosome like tools, tips and tricks
and how to make sure auditionsare feeling solid mentally.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Great.
So I created a company calledthe Dive and it started out from
a want and need for a lack ofsupport, mainly mentally, but
also emotionally andenergetically.
As an industry, we kind of lostout on a lot of connection and
a lot of community, and so Icreated a platform that was
based around that.
It started with a podcast whichI still run every single week.
(08:14):
The company actually onlylaunched this year, so it's very
new.
It's a little baby, but we havea podcast that comes out every
single week on a Monday where Iinterview professional
performing artists.
We discuss their stories andit's all about how they've
navigated the industry as aprofessional as well.
And now into season two of thepodcast, I now do it kind of
bi-weekly where I share coaching, tips on things that maybe I'll
(08:37):
share today as well, and thenevery second week I have a
special guest on.
It's been streamed over like5,000 episodes and all that kind
of stuff which is wild to me.
But that's kind of like oneavenue where it started.
And now as a company we'rebuilding out programs to help
you with audition prep.
We're putting together like anaudition academy to give
performers more opportunity toget in front of industry-led
(08:59):
panels and actually get feedbackon mock auditions and things
like that, and really justbringing a community together
and providing you with a spaceto not only feel like you're a
part of something greater, butactually to be a part of
something where you can feelgood and rock up to auditions
with energy and excitement andactually start living an amazing
musical theatre life that youultimately want to have, without
(09:21):
all the stress and all the BSthat comes with it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I don't know what it's like in Australia, but in
the UK in particular, a bigthing at the moment is not
actually enough auditions to goaround for the demand of people
that are trying to get seen.
Right, Getting to the road is anightmare, Like trying to get
seen, trying to get an audition,trying to like navigate this
audition world where they're nothappening consistently so you
(09:47):
can go one or two auditions oneweek.
All of a sudden go like four tofive weeks and you've had
nothing.
So those nerves continue tobuild up.
Those nerves are forever likechurning.
Every time you step into anaudition room it's like, oh,
holy crap, I'm back in theaudition room and it doesn't
feel normal and natural to you.
So I want to know your opinion.
(10:08):
With auditions being asdaunting as they are already,
what is the best way that youcan calm your nerves and stand
your ground in an audition ifthey're not something that
you're used to?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yes, I'm going to agree with you, because in
Australia it's very much so aswell.
We either have like a big stintof auditions and then it's just
like a dry period for like fourmonths or something and we're
all like cool just waitingaround.
And then the second thing I'llsay direct off what the question
you asked so a practicalexercise you can definitely do
is.
It's a bit of both.
(10:39):
What I teach is basically we allneed to get really specific.
You need to be specific onreally what you're wanting out
of an audition.
So if you're wanting grounding,you're going to be like
specific on like, what do youwant to feel ultimately at the
end of the day?
If you want to feel centered,if you want to feel calm, then
you need to specifically writeat that, because sometimes we
make things really vague, like,oh, I want to go in and do well.
(11:00):
What does doing well mean toyou?
What does feeling centered meanto you?
Because you can find a pinpointin the back of your life or on
the progression of your roadthat you've had that experience.
So if you can connect to that,you're much more likely to be
able to implement it in the room, as opposed to just, oh, let's
see what happens, and you justgo in and end up having like, oh
(11:21):
, you don't really, you're notreally aware or you're not
centered, so that's like kind ofa Can.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I pause you on that, tay.
Can you give me an example ofwhat that would look like?
So say, for instance, you hadstepped into an audition
recently and you are trying tofind that sense of calm,
groundedness, yeah, somethingthat is specific to you.
Can you give an example of whatthat would be and what that
would look like?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah Well, an actual technique or a strategy that you
could use is definitely yourbreath, so I always use this.
It's very, very simple.
It doesn't even have to be acounter breath.
The basic science of breath ifyou've not worked with your
breath before is the more youexhale, then you inhale.
Your body will start to calmdown because you activate the
parasympathetic nervous system,which is the rest and digest.
(12:07):
It's.
When you're at home, you'rechilling out.
There's no danger in yoursurroundings, basically.
And so what happens when we gointo auditions?
What's our breath doing?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It's up there.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It's really short, sharp and up here.
So that's activating oursympathetic nervous system.
So what we want to do is, eventhough our bodies are in this
stressful environment, it's notabout getting rid of the stress,
it's actually how can you livein the stress and be aware of it
and regulate it to a placewhere it doesn't overwhelm you.
So a really cool tool to use,that is, you can either do a
(12:39):
short inhale for four counts intwo, three, four, a light pause
and then you can exhale for sixor exhale for eight.
It doesn't really matter whatcount you do.
All that matters is that youcan start exhaling a little bit
longer than you inhale for maybelike four to five rounds.
Sometimes three rounds does itfor me.
This is an immediate tool thatyou can use that your body will
(12:59):
recognize and start to activatethat.
Your blood and your heart maybe still pumping, but you will
feel a kind of like a rush ofcalm.
If you maybe touch your hands,you notice something in the room
.
You'll become a lot morecentered, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Okay, so it's all about the exhale, exhale, more
important.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, okay, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You were, please continue.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, I guess well what I was saying back just
before about getting reallyspecific.
If you're going into anaudition and you are stressed,
first of all acknowledge it andacknowledge that we have two
frame of minds.
So what I mean by that is youget to decide ultimately if you
go in there with a positivemindset or a negative one.
So sometimes our body's justtrying to protect us.
(13:42):
Our brain is always trying toprotect us, no matter what.
So if a bad experience oncehappened before it, just like
when we were younger, and putour hand on fire, you know we
don't do it again because youknow, oh, that wasn't a good
experience.
The same thing happens if yougo in and you got cut,
immediately going to the nextaudition and go oh, what happens
if I get cut again?
And so it's just trying toprotect you and showing you
signs of potential danger andthat wants to keep you safe.
(14:05):
But we've got to move throughthis.
And how do we do that?
Is we just start byimplementing like a best case
scenario, start writing outreally before.
It can be a week before, a daybefore, just before.
It can even be just thinking,but if you write it out it
really just brings you deeperinto the present moment of
exactly what you want to havehappen.
Well, how do you want it to go?
How do you want to feel?
And I just train people.
(14:26):
It's not about being 99% happyand everything's great.
It's not about that.
Just get to 51%.
All you need to do is just tipthat scale to like 51%, out of
like the 50 and 50, to make alasting change.
And what I challenge you to dois, if you're someone that
really struggles with that, justask yourself is it better to go
in, being really negative,being really down on yourself
(14:49):
and not getting in, or is itbetter to go in positive, have a
good experience, reflecthonestly and still not get in?
You know what I mean, likelongevity wise, the bigger
picture.
We're looking for wellness andwe're looking for compassion and
to look after ourselves and getourselves into a space where we
can not only take direction butwe can take what we learn,
(15:10):
reflect on it positively andtake all that experience and
move forward.
But when we're in that negativespace, and then that space that
is always trying to pull usback which is actually a normal
thing it's our body literallytrying to protect us.
We do the opposite, so that youcan just start to build that 51
and I promise you, each timeyou're going with that mindset,
it just gets better and betterand you learn a lot more so yeah
(15:34):
, small little choices, I guessevery single time that you go
yeah interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Have you always been confident in auditions, has it?
Did you just like pop?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
out.
No, no, no, no, oh, my gosh.
Now I have a lot of fun.
Now I have a lot of fun becauseI don't take myself too
seriously and no one's born withconfidence.
No one here rocked up bornconfident in anything.
Confidence is actually taught.
Just something I learned, Ithink, last year but no, I
wasn't always confident inauditions.
(16:03):
And it's just like anything new.
If you're new to auditioning,it's going to be scary as hell,
you're going to be nervous, youdon't know what's going to
happen.
It's a lot.
So over time you just get thatconfidence up by coming back and
showing yourself.
For example just a side notehere if you've done a bad
audition and then you've notdone any work to improve that
(16:26):
specific part of the auditionand you go to the next audition,
you're going to feel the exactsame.
But if you don't do well in anaudition and you go maybe that
was the dancing I need to workon, and then you go get privates
, or then you work on your dancetraining and then you go back
to the audition and you do alittle bit better, by going up
each time and moving forward,you're actually building
confidence in yourself becauseyou're actually showing yourself
(16:49):
or reassuring yourself that, nomatter what, at least you're
showing up and doing the workand you're progressing forward,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I think there's always room for reflection and
like a little bit of I don'twant to say self critique,
because sometimes critique cancome up with quite a negative
connotation, but reflection andan understanding of how did I
really do right.
Sometimes we fall into and Iknow quite a few people who and
I used to be this way, where Iwould leave an audition room and
(17:17):
always think everyone was outto get me.
I didn't get it because theysabotaged me and I didn't get a
fair shot and that girl stood infront of me and I, like rage,
fury, yeah, what do I need towork on?
What is the reflection that Ican start to put in place so
that I can take those positivesteps moving forward?
Do you think that post-auditionreflection is really important
(17:40):
and how do you make reflectionconstructive?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
yeah, it is the most important part of the whole
audition process because it'sthe only thing you have control
over, and reflection to me isjust like gospel.
It's the fastest way to improveand by implementing that it
could just be simple like thisAfterwards, for example, I just
did an audition maybe a monthago Afterwards I would usually
(18:05):
maybe get an Uber and gostraight home and I home and I
know, collapse on the couch likedeath.
But this time I was like it's anice day out, I'm going to
spend some time, I'm going towalk maybe halfway home, which
was like 15 minutes or so.
I get it if you're dead and youneed to just go where you need
to go go, but you know, takingjust a moment, even if it's five
(18:25):
minutes.
I just walked home, no music,just thinking about, okay, how
that went, and then when I gothome, I actually write out what
went well and what went bad.
Maybe not went bad, but you'llactually be surprised at how
many good things that actuallywent well and I thought you know
in that time that the two orthree things that went wrong,
that's all you think about andyou're like, oh my gosh, but
(18:46):
this, this.
But then if you go and askyourself actually what went well
.
A lot of the time they outweighwhat went bad.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
We always fixate on the negative for sure it's
really we reflect on thepositive just as much.
Okay, so chat to me about do'sand don'ts in an audition room.
I take it and have you been ona panel before where you're
casting for a show or whereyou're assisting in a room?
Obviously, when you get to bein that position, it's so
interesting how you're sittingon the other side, the pressure
(19:13):
is off and you're able to justlearn so much.
What, in your opinion, are do'sand don'ts in an audition room,
things that we need to makesure we are channeling what
stands out?
I want to know definitely makesure you own this and definitely
make sure you steer away fromthis what are yours?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
So by yes, having that other experience, my whole
world kind of changed, because,ultimately, all the panel are
looking for is the real you andfor you to do the best that you
can.
They actually want you to doreally, really well and they
want to support you in any wayto make sure that can happen,
because they want the bestpeople to be a part of their
(19:53):
show.
And the best piece of advicethat I got as someone that is
auditioning is don't go in therewith like what can I prove, but
going there with a mindset ofwhat can I help, how can I, as
an artist, help this production.
So that's like once, if I'm onthe other side, like going in,
hey, I've got this tool, I canbring this dance quality to this
production, I can sing this, Ican act in this way, I can use
(20:18):
that ability to support you as abusiness, as a production that
they're putting together.
And that mental shift is reallygreat because, instead of you
going in, going, oh, I'm goingto prove this, and because when
you start doing that, you startbecoming inauthentic.
And that's another thing thatthe main thing I basically got
from being on the other side ofthe panel and learning about.
What they're really looking foris authenticity.
(20:40):
Too many of us go in theresinging a song that we heard
someone else sing really welland we look up on Google like oh
, what are tenors or what doessomeone sing?
And you see that they do itreally well and then you sing it
just like them or you act itjust like them and you maybe go
in and don't do really well andyou're like wait, like what do
you mean?
And it's because you're not youand that's all they're looking
(21:03):
for.
I mean, of course they'relooking for a level of skill in
those areas, which I'm sure youall have.
But the more you can have yourmaterial and the way you present
yourself as most authentic toyou, you are not only going to
give yourself the best footforward, but you're going to be
able to showcase you better thananyone else there, because no
(21:24):
one else can do you basically,at the end of the day.
So that was like a massive shift, because when you're starting
out, you just want a job andyou'll do anything to get it
right.
You will like dye your hair,wear the same thing or they're
wearing a crop top.
So I'm going to wear a crop,like all this stuff.
But no, like you'd really justgot to start figuring out what
you is.
And that just happens over time.
And the easiest way to go intothat is just by asking yourself.
(21:47):
The easiest way to go into thatis just by asking yourself,
like, what makes me the mostbest version of me, what makes
me so energetic?
What makes me feel like whenI'm in a room?
My shoulders go back and I'mlike, yes, this is me, you know,
and that may take time andthat's fine, but it's all energy
, all energy, baby.
And that's what they're lookingat, because someone who's not
authentically them, yourshoulder is going to be down.
(22:08):
You're not going to be givingeye contact, it's just going to
be a whole rumble down a mess.
And I've had that experiencepersonally when I've gone in and
gone.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
If you want me to share that.
I basically went into anaudition because I was always a
dancer.
First, you know, we put thatlabel on.
I'm just, you know, I singer,actor, whatever now equal.
And then I went in, basically,and I was going for a minor
supporting role and I was like,oh my gosh, I've only ever done
swing dance roles.
(22:38):
So I went in there with just amindset of like I'm not this
person, I, oh, I don't know howthis is going to work out.
And of course, I went in there,fumbled all my lines, I
couldn't sing correctly and Ileft and it was the most
embarrassing thing ever.
And the lesson in there wasthat I just wasn't authentically
myself.
If I went in there and was likeyou know what I'm not the best
at this, but I'm going to giveit my version I would have had
(23:00):
the best time and I probablywould have got cast in it.
You know what I mean.
So that big lesson ofauthenticity, yeah, big lesson
of authenticity, yeah, I didn'tjust go in there with laser
focus and going, this is mine,baby.
Like literally, just go inthere with a open heart, energy
of just like how can I help?
Because, yeah, don't is bysectioning yourself off, not
(23:20):
being open to the experience,not actually increasing the
stress that's already there, bypressure, like don't give
yourself more pressure, whichshould be.
It could be an example of if Idon't get this, like you maybe
ask yourself if you don't get in, what's going to happen?
You're just going to go back totraining.
You're going to go back to itlike, in the bigger scheme of
(23:41):
things, nothing is actuallygoing to go wrong you know, and
if you stuff up, you'll learnfrom it and move forward.
Like we just put so muchpressure on this one thing and
if I don't get this, then itmeans so-and-so-and-so.
Know that no one is puttingthat label on it, but you and
you get to shift it.
You can just be like how aboutwe're going to go?
Try for this.
I've been training for it,let's give it my best shot.
And you know what, out of thepodcasts that I've been
(24:10):
interviewing people on, whichare some lead roles, different
sort of people they've said allthe main auditions or things
they've got into are, a lot ofthe time, the ones that they
don't really care much about.
Yeah, they're just like sochill.
They're like oh, yeah, I did mywork and because of their
energy they're not in there,like, okay, I really need this,
I have to get this like.
It's such a desperate energyand it reads in a room really
easily.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I want to on.
So going into a room and beinglike I'm just a dancer, I'm not
this person, I'm not a singer,I'm not like.
Or, on the flip side, you couldbe a singer actor predominantly
who is really, really notcapable of dance.
But you go into a room and allof a sudden, ha, imposter
syndrome, self-sabotage, I'm notgood enough, self-belief all of
that stuff starts to come upfor you, which are those
(24:49):
beautiful, wild and wonderfulbuzzwords that we hear all the
time.
How do you combat that?
Like, how on earth do we feelwhat we're feeling but still
step into a room?
I mean, I guess probably theanswer is it comes back down to
your breathing and yourgrounding.
But if you know that I am notreally confident in this, but
I've got something else to offer, how do you feel that you're
(25:11):
stepping into a room and you'reunapologetically being who you
know you can be, even though theperson is in your head.
You think is not good enough.
Does that make sense?
It's like such a vicious circle, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Oh yeah, it is and it is and it is.
I mean, if you were going to anaudition tomorrow, I guess the
advice would be you really justgot to be with yourself and
honor where you are and look ateveryone, not in a place of, oh
my God, there's so much better,there's no chance for me here.
That's not helpful.
Go into it with a place of it'slike we're on this timeline of
(25:45):
our journey and it's like this.
It's like so many timelines.
It's not just this oneprogression.
We're not all on the same boaton this one progression.
It looks like that because whenwe're in the audition we're all
there at once, but really it'slike we're all in there at
different times of our journeys,of I had that private training
and this and that.
So we're just like a big mixedbunch of people, which is
brilliant, because there's noversion of you than the next
(26:07):
person which I mentioned before.
So I guess, honoring that andjust you know, actually laughing
about it.
You know, if you have got twoleft feet, you just give it your
best two left feet and honestly, the panel will love it.
But if you go in there withthat there's oh, they're so good
and oh my gosh, and defeatyourself already.
You're not only going to have aterrible time, but you're not
(26:28):
going to be shown as someone whocan just give it a go.
That's half the battle in MT.
Who can come onto this show andhave a good laugh and a lot of
the times in shows now, noteveryone has to dance at a level
10 or sing at a level 10.
There's room for everyone in alot of shows now.
So know that that's there.
And if it's dancing specific,there are mover calls.
(26:49):
I think they have now as well.
But yeah, that would be myadvice.
And then my second advice wouldbe is that everyone on this call
even myself included right nowknows what your need of
improvement needs to be, andthere's a level of which we are
not, or maybe you are.
There's a level right now ofwhich you are not actually, or
(27:09):
maybe you are.
There's a level right now ofwhich you are not actually
applying yourself to it, andwe're waiting for someone to
tell us to go and do it.
But you know what you need todo.
We just need to startimplementing it so that when you
get to the next audition, youdon't have this story of oh I'm
just so in this.
I'm just so in that.
So have a look at yourself now.
(27:30):
Have a look at what you canwork on and be kind with
yourself in the process.
Don't go do like 20 classes aweek or something like that.
Go right, al, what's the onething maybe this is a question
what's the one thing you can doright now that would make
everything easier or unnecessary, like?
What's one thing I can do rightnow to improve this to my dance
?
It could be to find a teacher,to find a space to find, and
(27:52):
just start with that questionand just work off.
The one thing Don't getoverwhelmed with oh, now I need
to be a part of a company.
I'm like, because we always gointo that.
Oh, you know, we want thingsreally fast.
We all like want things rightnow, and the disappointing thing
about that is that if you'rebuilding from a place of rushed
energy, then you will get thereand you will leave as quick as
(28:15):
you've got there.
So you want to start buildingfrom a place of.
I'm just going to work withthis one thing and we're going
to get better once you know, 1%each day is how many days a year
?
365't go beyond math, you know.
That's already like 300.
Oh my gosh, you know, but weonly just did one percent per
day.
Don't be discouraged by the onepercent, because it's so much
(28:36):
more powerful than doing the 300on one day, getting burnt out,
binging on the weekend and thenbeing like oh yeah, it's really,
and that's where all thatbalance comes in.
Yes, that's what.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That is so incredibly valuable and, funnily enough, I
was having a conversation likethis with one of my clients
yesterday.
We were talking about justchoosing one thing what one
thing can you do on a dailybasis, even if you can just do
it today and try and rinse andrepeat tomorrow, that's two days
that you weren't able to do twodays ago.
Right, and channeling that 1%energy.
(29:09):
Are you willing to be the 1%ersof the industry where you're
not searching for that instantgratification, you're not
searching for thatself-actualization or that
external validation, or youdon't need a round of applause
or a standing ovation to knowthat you're doing a good job?
Yeah, it's by making those tinylittle incremental journeys
every single day.
(29:29):
That little 1%, 0.1% it's morethan you did yesterday.
That's it Right and, oh mygoodness, that is so incredibly
valuable and I want to kiss yourforehead because of what you
just said.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Oh, baby, okay.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So I'm going to start to wrap things up, because I
always like to open up anopportunity for conversation.
But in a nutshell, tay, what isnext for you?
How can people get hold of you?
And a little bit of valuableadvice alongside all of the
gorgeous other value that youhave given us today.
Anything at all.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yes, so what's next for me?
I'm going to Sydney to do theshow that I'm currently doing
and then I'll have some time off.
But then, if you want to reachme on the Dive, we have a social
media handle at thedivecomau.
I also have a website,wwwthedivecomau.
Or if you want to reach mypersonal account on Instagram,
(30:32):
it's just Taylor T-A-Y-L-O-R,full stop.
Scanlan S-C-A-N.
And last words of wisdom,something that I guess I've been
learning lately is that it'snever about the goal.
We always think it's about thething, achieving the thing,
getting the thing.
But what it is actually aboutand what you're really looking
for is how you will feel and whoyou will become when you're
there, and all of that can becreated in the now.
What I mean, for example, beinga musical theatre professional
(30:53):
or a performer in the industry.
Ask yourself who is that person, what are they feeling?
Who are they surroundingthemselves with?
What are the daily actionswould they be taking and
starting to build a life aroundthat version of you?
Because I've started to do thiswith just things in my life and
it's really crazy because itcomes to you and you're just not
(31:16):
surprised.
You're like, oh cool, like agoal will come and you'll be
like nice, because you're notshocked, because actually you've
become the person and that'sultimately what you're looking
for.
You're not looking for the caror the recognition and stuff.
You're looking for actuallybecoming that person that you're
ultimately looking for, and youcan start building that now,
which is really, really exciting.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
That's what I'll say Wow, Value.
I love Fantastic Tay Tay.
Thank you so much.
If you want to be diving intothe brilliance of the brain that
is Taylor Scanlon, then you'llknow exactly where to find him.
Thank you all so much for beinghere today.
Have a beautiful rest of yourThursday.
Those of you that are going toauditions and callbacks and
(31:58):
first rounds and last rounds,whatever.
Whatever you are doing, I wishyou well and I'm really proud of
you, and keep reaching out andlet us know if you need anything
.
Right?
Lots of love, angels, bye.
Hey, welcome back to the Dive Podcast.
I'm so excited that you're here.
Today's episode is a little bitdifferent, as I wanted to share
with you a webinar interviewthat I did with one of my
greatest long-term friends,talia Burt.
She has built an incredibleplatform called Bulletproof and
she's a personal trainer.
(00:21):
She's a resident choreographer.
She's all of the amazing thingswhen it comes to looking after
your body, and when I was askedto actually come onto her
platform, I actually trainedwith her with her platform,
bulletproof, and we basicallyconnected and came on a live
webinar with her community, andTalia came on and asked me
(00:43):
questions about auditions,nerves, how to combat the nerves
in the audition, the do's anddon'ts of auditioning, and you
gain a little bit more insightinto my own story with
auditioning and a little bitmore insight into what that
means for you.
So I hope you enjoy the episode.
It is a juicy one, so if youhave a pen and paper, definitely
(01:06):
get that out, because there's alot of great insights.
Sometimes I don't even knowwhere they come from, so you'll
want to make sure that you havesome time to go through it and
see how it resonates with you.
As always, have the best timeand I hope you enjoy the episode
.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I'm really, really, really excited about this
conversation today becauseTaylor I'll let him introduce
himself to you in a second butTaylor and I go so way back in
our I don't know journey, if youwill together and he's put
together an incredible communitythat I really think is going to
(01:40):
help you and you're going tofind value in it.
And just the information thathe's going to be able to share
with you today about stuff thatstresses us out like that
audition world right, it's soincredibly stressful sometimes.
So, learning how to navigatethat and have some tools, tips
and tricks to you know, check inwith the old noggin and make
sure that the mentals are in theright place with all of it.
So, without further ado, mycute little Tay Tay, thank you
(02:03):
for being here.
Let's jump straight in.
I want you to tell everyone alittle bit about who you are,
where you started, what yourcareer is currently looking like
.
Ready set go.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Boom, oh, so good.
Well, thank you so much forholding the space for everyone
what you have built we were justtalking then.
I've really watched andsupported Talia from the ground
up of what she's been creating.
So everyone that's insideBulletproof, or everything that
she is about.
She is literally the top of hergame of what she's talking
about, so you're so lucky to beinvolved with.
(02:35):
But yes, my name is TaylorScanlon.
I'm an Australian, if youhaven't picked up on the accent
yet, and I have been in musicaltheatre for over 10 years now
and I trained in Melbourne,australia, for about six years
specifically in dance, actuallynot in musical theatre.
I was the person literally inthe back when it got to musical
theatre class going.
(02:55):
Are you kidding me?
Who wants to be involved inthat bullshit?
Basically, excuse my French, Ijust thought it was so boring.
Why would you want to do that?
And then I was actuallyconvinced to rock up to a cat's
audition and it was all dance.
So I got into the industry, notby mistake, but really just
like tricked into it, and then Ifell in love with it and I saw
(03:16):
what it really was and thecommunity and the money, because
I was very not earning a lot ofmoney, wanting to be a
contemporary dancer, so I waslike, oh okay, I could make a
life out of this, and so I'vebeen doing that for the past 10
years.
I met Talia with Cats, theMusical we together.
we've probably done it, I don'teven know how many times, how
(03:37):
many times yeah, too many, toomany times and it's just been a
really really fun ride.
And of course there's been manyups and downs and many things
to navigate, but in whole it'sjust been really cool to be
super open to more possibilitiesand see where life takes you,
because you just never, neverknow.
(03:58):
And actually it was the pointin my life when I was starting
out where I was feeling that thebest direction was to
pigeonhole and just to be like,no, I want to be this sort of
thing, thinking that it wouldhelp, but actually limited all
the opportunities that weresurrounding me.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So now I'm just like wide open to what's coming
around, which is actuallyhilarious because your cats
experience I mean, for those ofyou that have either done cats,
if you're watching this oryou've seen Cats, you know how
wild and wonderful and versatileeverything with regards to Cats
is.
So if you were trying topigeonhole yourself, you said
yes to the wrong job.
Right?
We started out what?
(04:34):
We were both swings on it.
No, we were.
We did twin stuff.
I can't remember.
I flew in and replaced someonein the show because I had done
it previously and we connected.
We were the twins on Cats andthen thereafter, you went on to
doing swing work and thenassistant dance captain and then
dance captain, and then youwere my dance captain when I was
(04:54):
residenting it in 2020.
So wild and wonderful.
I want you to share witheveryone about your process of
going from ensemble to ADC DCand then all of the work that
you're currently doing.
How did that kind of happen foryou?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, sure, well, so I actually was an ensemble
member first for La Cage auxFolles, which was kind of a
short run here in Melbourne, itwas only like six weeks.
So that was like the first stepinto musicals that I got at the
end of my first year oftraining.
We just call it training, Ithink it's like college or
whatever over in the UK.
And then it was my second yearthat I went and did Cats and I
(05:33):
was in the ensemble, so I wasjust covering a few people, but
not ADC or DC, and it wasactually straight after that I
actually did a side little noteof Matthew Bourne show when he
came here and did Lord of theFlies.
So I did that, gave mycontemporary heart out on that,
and then I went back to Cats andI actually was asked to be
dance captain for that run.
(05:54):
So I've actually done a fewthings where I've been dance
captain.
I was dance captain of Cats for, I think, two or three tours
and then I actually played likea minor lead in a show in
Australia.
I'm in Charlie and ChocolateFactory, I was Mike TV,
hilarious.
And then I actually went anddid Mary Poppins just recently
(06:15):
and I was the assistant dancecaptain to a DC and then now
currently I'm assistant dancecaptain again for Sunset
Boulevard over here in Australiaand how that kind of
progression I guess has happenedis when I started to become
more of a swing.
That was definitely somethingthat I really really loved to do
and if you've ever had anexperience, or get an experience
, being a swing, when you goback to doing one role, it's
(06:37):
either like something that youreally really want or something
that you really don't want.
I always say that if you'refiguring out whether you want to
be a swing or not, you'll knowvery quickly if it's the you or
not.
But it was definitely somethingthat was a yes for me and that
was just kind of in bonus withDance Captain Judy's, because I
don't know if it's differentover in the UK, but in Australia
(06:58):
a lot of the time the DanceCaptain is one of the swings.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
It's hard to be a DC if you'reat the show because you know you
don't see it, you're like, thisis so messed and I'm just going
to live in it.
So I want to dive into theaudition process and I want you
to chat about the dive, which isTaylor's company that he's
running at the moment, and howthose two things link together.
I don't know how many of yousaw the social media content
that I posted about yesterdayand I got a little link to his
(07:23):
page, but Tay has created thisincredible, incredible community
for performers and rages aboutsupporting them right In all
avenues of the industry.
That result to mental health,audition prep, making sure that
you are, like on top of yourgame Mentally, physically,
emotionally.
That's it.
I want to know about exactlywhat it is that you guys do, and
(07:47):
then we're going to dive intosome like tools, tips and tricks
and how to make sure auditionsare feeling solid mentally.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Great.
So I created a company calledthe Dive and it started out from
a want and need for a lack ofsupport, mainly mentally, but
also emotionally andenergetically.
As an industry, we kind of lostout on a lot of connection and
a lot of community, and so Icreated a platform that was
based around that.
It started with a podcast whichI still run every single week.
(08:14):
The company actually onlylaunched this year, so it's very
new.
It's a little baby, but we havea podcast that comes out every
single week on a Monday where Iinterview professional
performing artists.
We discuss their stories andit's all about how they've
navigated the industry as aprofessional as well.
And now into season two of thepodcast, I now do it kind of
bi-weekly where I share coaching, tips on things that maybe I'll
(08:37):
share today as well, and thenevery second week I have a
special guest on.
It's been streamed over like5,000 episodes and all that kind
of stuff which is wild to me.
But that's kind of like oneavenue where it started.
And now as a company we'rebuilding out programs to help
you with audition prep.
We're putting together like anaudition academy to give
performers more opportunity toget in front of industry-led
(08:59):
panels and actually get feedbackon mock auditions and things
like that, and really justbringing a community together
and providing you with a spaceto not only feel like you're a
part of something greater, butactually to be a part of
something where you can feelgood and rock up to auditions
with energy and excitement andactually start living an amazing
musical theatre life that youultimately want to have, without
(09:21):
all the stress and all the BSthat comes with it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I don't know what it's like in Australia, but in
the UK in particular, a bigthing at the moment is not
actually enough auditions to goaround for the demand of people
that are trying to get seen.
Right, Getting to the road is anightmare, Like trying to get
seen, trying to get an audition,trying to like navigate this
audition world where they're nothappening consistently so you
(09:47):
can go one or two auditions oneweek.
All of a sudden go like four tofive weeks and you've had
nothing.
So those nerves continue tobuild up.
Those nerves are forever likechurning.
Every time you step into anaudition room it's like, oh,
holy crap, I'm back in theaudition room and it doesn't
feel normal and natural to you.
So I want to know your opinion.
(10:08):
With auditions being asdaunting as they are already,
what is the best way that youcan calm your nerves and stand
your ground in an audition ifthey're not something that
you're used to?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yes, I'm going to agree with you, because in
Australia it's very much so aswell.
We either have like a big stintof auditions and then it's just
like a dry period for like fourmonths or something and we're
all like cool just waitingaround.
And then the second thing I'llsay direct off what the question
you asked so a practicalexercise you can definitely do
is.
It's a bit of both.
(10:39):
What I teach is basically we allneed to get really specific.
You need to be specific onreally what you're wanting out
of an audition.
So if you're wanting grounding,you're going to be like
specific on like, what do youwant to feel ultimately at the
end of the day?
If you want to feel centered,if you want to feel calm, then
you need to specifically writeat that, because sometimes we
make things really vague, like,oh, I want to go in and do well.
(11:00):
What does doing well mean toyou?
What does feeling centered meanto you?
Because you can find a pinpointin the back of your life or on
the progression of your roadthat you've had that experience.
So if you can connect to that,you're much more likely to be
able to implement it in the room, as opposed to just, oh, let's
see what happens, and you justgo in and end up having like, oh
(11:21):
, you don't really, you're notreally aware or you're not
centered, so that's like kind ofa Can.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I pause you on that, tay.
Can you give me an example ofwhat that would look like?
So say, for instance, you hadstepped into an audition
recently and you are trying tofind that sense of calm,
groundedness, yeah, somethingthat is specific to you.
Can you give an example of whatthat would be and what that
would look like?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah Well, an actual technique or a strategy that you
could use is definitely yourbreath, so I always use this.
It's very, very simple.
It doesn't even have to be acounter breath.
The basic science of breath ifyou've not worked with your
breath before is the more youexhale, then you inhale.
Your body will start to calmdown because you activate the
parasympathetic nervous system,which is the rest and digest.
(12:07):
It's.
When you're at home, you'rechilling out.
There's no danger in yoursurroundings, basically.
And so what happens when we gointo auditions?
What's our breath doing?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It's up there.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It's really short, sharp and up here.
So that's activating oursympathetic nervous system.
So what we want to do is, eventhough our bodies are in this
stressful environment, it's notabout getting rid of the stress,
it's actually how can you livein the stress and be aware of it
and regulate it to a placewhere it doesn't overwhelm you.
So a really cool tool to use,that is, you can either do a
(12:39):
short inhale for four counts intwo, three, four, a light pause
and then you can exhale for sixor exhale for eight.
It doesn't really matter whatcount you do.
All that matters is that youcan start exhaling a little bit
longer than you inhale for maybelike four to five rounds.
Sometimes three rounds does itfor me.
This is an immediate tool thatyou can use that your body will
(12:59):
recognize and start to activatethat.
Your blood and your heart maybe still pumping, but you will
feel a kind of like a rush ofcalm.
If you maybe touch your hands,you notice something in the room
.
You'll become a lot morecentered, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Okay, so it's all about the exhale, exhale, more
important.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, okay, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You were, please continue.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, I guess well what I was saying back just
before about getting reallyspecific.
If you're going into anaudition and you are stressed,
first of all acknowledge it andacknowledge that we have two
frame of minds.
So what I mean by that is youget to decide ultimately if you
go in there with a positivemindset or a negative one.
So sometimes our body's justtrying to protect us.
(13:42):
Our brain is always trying toprotect us, no matter what.
So if a bad experience oncehappened before it, just like
when we were younger, and putour hand on fire, you know we
don't do it again because youknow, oh, that wasn't a good
experience.
The same thing happens if yougo in and you got cut,
immediately going to the nextaudition and go oh, what happens
if I get cut again?
And so it's just trying toprotect you and showing you
signs of potential danger andthat wants to keep you safe.
(14:05):
But we've got to move throughthis.
And how do we do that?
Is we just start byimplementing like a best case
scenario, start writing outreally before.
It can be a week before, a daybefore, just before.
It can even be just thinking,but if you write it out it
really just brings you deeperinto the present moment of
exactly what you want to havehappen.
Well, how do you want it to go?
How do you want to feel?
And I just train people.
(14:26):
It's not about being 99% happyand everything's great.
It's not about that.
Just get to 51%.
All you need to do is just tipthat scale to like 51%, out of
like the 50 and 50, to make alasting change.
And what I challenge you to dois, if you're someone that
really struggles with that, justask yourself is it better to go
in, being really negative,being really down on yourself
(14:49):
and not getting in, or is itbetter to go in positive, have a
good experience, reflecthonestly and still not get in?
You know what I mean, likelongevity wise, the bigger
picture.
We're looking for wellness andwe're looking for compassion and
to look after ourselves and getourselves into a space where we
can not only take direction butwe can take what we learn,
(15:10):
reflect on it positively andtake all that experience and
move forward.
But when we're in that negativespace, and then that space that
is always trying to pull usback which is actually a normal
thing it's our body literallytrying to protect us.
We do the opposite, so that youcan just start to build that 51
and I promise you, each timeyou're going with that mindset,
it just gets better and betterand you learn a lot more so yeah
(15:34):
, small little choices, I guessevery single time that you go
yeah interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Have you always been confident in auditions, has it?
Did you just like pop?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
out.
No, no, no, no, oh, my gosh.
Now I have a lot of fun.
Now I have a lot of fun becauseI don't take myself too
seriously and no one's born withconfidence.
No one here rocked up bornconfident in anything.
Confidence is actually taught.
Just something I learned, Ithink, last year but no, I
wasn't always confident inauditions.
(16:03):
And it's just like anything new.
If you're new to auditioning,it's going to be scary as hell,
you're going to be nervous, youdon't know what's going to
happen.
It's a lot.
So over time you just get thatconfidence up by coming back and
showing yourself.
For example just a side notehere if you've done a bad
audition and then you've notdone any work to improve that
(16:26):
specific part of the auditionand you go to the next audition,
you're going to feel the exactsame.
But if you don't do well in anaudition and you go maybe that
was the dancing I need to workon, and then you go get privates
, or then you work on your dancetraining and then you go back
to the audition and you do alittle bit better, by going up
each time and moving forward,you're actually building
confidence in yourself becauseyou're actually showing yourself
(16:49):
or reassuring yourself that, nomatter what, at least you're
showing up and doing the workand you're progressing forward,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I think there's always room for reflection and
like a little bit of I don'twant to say self critique,
because sometimes critique cancome up with quite a negative
connotation, but reflection andan understanding of how did I
really do right.
Sometimes we fall into and Iknow quite a few people who and
I used to be this way, where Iwould leave an audition room and
(17:17):
always think everyone was outto get me.
I didn't get it because theysabotaged me and I didn't get a
fair shot and that girl stood infront of me and I, like rage,
fury, yeah, what do I need towork on?
What is the reflection that Ican start to put in place so
that I can take those positivesteps moving forward?
Do you think that post-auditionreflection is really important
(17:40):
and how do you make reflectionconstructive?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
yeah, it is the most important part of the whole
audition process because it'sthe only thing you have control
over, and reflection to me isjust like gospel.
It's the fastest way to improveand by implementing that it
could just be simple like thisAfterwards, for example, I just
did an audition maybe a monthago Afterwards I would usually
(18:05):
maybe get an Uber and gostraight home and I home and I
know, collapse on the couch likedeath.
But this time I was like it's anice day out, I'm going to
spend some time, I'm going towalk maybe halfway home, which
was like 15 minutes or so.
I get it if you're dead and youneed to just go where you need
to go go, but you know, takingjust a moment, even if it's five
(18:25):
minutes.
I just walked home, no music,just thinking about, okay, how
that went, and then when I gothome, I actually write out what
went well and what went bad.
Maybe not went bad, but you'llactually be surprised at how
many good things that actuallywent well and I thought you know
in that time that the two orthree things that went wrong,
that's all you think about andyou're like, oh my gosh, but
(18:46):
this, this.
But then if you go and askyourself actually what went well
.
A lot of the time they outweighwhat went bad.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
We always fixate on the negative for sure it's
really we reflect on thepositive just as much.
Okay, so chat to me about do'sand don'ts in an audition room.
I take it and have you been ona panel before where you're
casting for a show or whereyou're assisting in a room?
Obviously, when you get to bein that position, it's so
interesting how you're sittingon the other side, the pressure
(19:13):
is off and you're able to justlearn so much.
What, in your opinion, are do'sand don'ts in an audition room,
things that we need to makesure we are channeling what
stands out?
I want to know definitely makesure you own this and definitely
make sure you steer away fromthis what are yours?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
So by yes, having that other experience, my whole
world kind of changed, because,ultimately, all the panel are
looking for is the real you andfor you to do the best that you
can.
They actually want you to doreally, really well and they
want to support you in any wayto make sure that can happen,
because they want the bestpeople to be a part of their
(19:53):
show.
And the best piece of advicethat I got as someone that is
auditioning is don't go in therewith like what can I prove, but
going there with a mindset ofwhat can I help, how can I, as
an artist, help this production.
So that's like once, if I'm onthe other side, like going in,
hey, I've got this tool, I canbring this dance quality to this
production, I can sing this, Ican act in this way, I can use
(20:18):
that ability to support you as abusiness, as a production that
they're putting together.
And that mental shift is reallygreat because, instead of you
going in, going, oh, I'm goingto prove this, and because when
you start doing that, you startbecoming inauthentic.
And that's another thing thatthe main thing I basically got
from being on the other side ofthe panel and learning about.
What they're really looking foris authenticity.
(20:40):
Too many of us go in theresinging a song that we heard
someone else sing really welland we look up on Google like oh
, what are tenors or what doessomeone sing?
And you see that they do itreally well and then you sing it
just like them or you act itjust like them and you maybe go
in and don't do really well andyou're like wait, like what do
you mean?
And it's because you're not youand that's all they're looking
(21:03):
for.
I mean, of course they'relooking for a level of skill in
those areas, which I'm sure youall have.
But the more you can have yourmaterial and the way you present
yourself as most authentic toyou, you are not only going to
give yourself the best footforward, but you're going to be
able to showcase you better thananyone else there, because no
(21:24):
one else can do you basically,at the end of the day.
So that was like a massive shift, because when you're starting
out, you just want a job andyou'll do anything to get it
right.
You will like dye your hair,wear the same thing or they're
wearing a crop top.
So I'm going to wear a crop,like all this stuff.
But no, like you'd really justgot to start figuring out what
you is.
And that just happens over time.
And the easiest way to go intothat is just by asking yourself.
(21:47):
The easiest way to go into thatis just by asking yourself,
like, what makes me the mostbest version of me, what makes
me so energetic?
What makes me feel like whenI'm in a room?
My shoulders go back and I'mlike, yes, this is me, you know,
and that may take time andthat's fine, but it's all energy
, all energy, baby.
And that's what they're lookingat, because someone who's not
authentically them, yourshoulder is going to be down.
(22:08):
You're not going to be givingeye contact, it's just going to
be a whole rumble down a mess.
And I've had that experiencepersonally when I've gone in and
gone.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
If you want me to share that.
I basically went into anaudition because I was always a
dancer.
First, you know, we put thatlabel on.
I'm just, you know, I singer,actor, whatever now equal.
And then I went in, basically,and I was going for a minor
supporting role and I was like,oh my gosh, I've only ever done
swing dance roles.
(22:38):
So I went in there with just amindset of like I'm not this
person, I, oh, I don't know howthis is going to work out.
And of course, I went in there,fumbled all my lines, I
couldn't sing correctly and Ileft and it was the most
embarrassing thing ever.
And the lesson in there wasthat I just wasn't authentically
myself.
If I went in there and was likeyou know what I'm not the best
at this, but I'm going to giveit my version I would have had
(23:00):
the best time and I probablywould have got cast in it.
You know what I mean.
So that big lesson ofauthenticity, yeah, big lesson
of authenticity, yeah, I didn'tjust go in there with laser
focus and going, this is mine,baby.
Like literally, just go inthere with a open heart, energy
of just like how can I help?
Because, yeah, don't is bysectioning yourself off, not
(23:20):
being open to the experience,not actually increasing the
stress that's already there, bypressure, like don't give
yourself more pressure, whichshould be.
It could be an example of if Idon't get this, like you maybe
ask yourself if you don't get in, what's going to happen?
You're just going to go back totraining.
You're going to go back to itlike, in the bigger scheme of
(23:41):
things, nothing is actuallygoing to go wrong you know, and
if you stuff up, you'll learnfrom it and move forward.
Like we just put so muchpressure on this one thing and
if I don't get this, then itmeans so-and-so-and-so.
Know that no one is puttingthat label on it, but you and
you get to shift it.
You can just be like how aboutwe're going to go?
Try for this.
I've been training for it,let's give it my best shot.
And you know what, out of thepodcasts that I've been
(24:10):
interviewing people on, whichare some lead roles, different
sort of people they've said allthe main auditions or things
they've got into are, a lot ofthe time, the ones that they
don't really care much about.
Yeah, they're just like sochill.
They're like oh, yeah, I did mywork and because of their
energy they're not in there,like, okay, I really need this,
I have to get this like.
It's such a desperate energyand it reads in a room really
easily.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I want to on.
So going into a room and beinglike I'm just a dancer, I'm not
this person, I'm not a singer,I'm not like.
Or, on the flip side, you couldbe a singer actor predominantly
who is really, really notcapable of dance.
But you go into a room and allof a sudden, ha, imposter
syndrome, self-sabotage, I'm notgood enough, self-belief all of
that stuff starts to come upfor you, which are those
(24:49):
beautiful, wild and wonderfulbuzzwords that we hear all the
time.
How do you combat that?
Like, how on earth do we feelwhat we're feeling but still
step into a room?
I mean, I guess probably theanswer is it comes back down to
your breathing and yourgrounding.
But if you know that I am notreally confident in this, but
I've got something else to offer, how do you feel that you're
(25:11):
stepping into a room and you'reunapologetically being who you
know you can be, even though theperson is in your head.
You think is not good enough.
Does that make sense?
It's like such a vicious circle, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Oh yeah, it is and it is and it is.
I mean, if you were going to anaudition tomorrow, I guess the
advice would be you really justgot to be with yourself and
honor where you are and look ateveryone, not in a place of, oh
my God, there's so much better,there's no chance for me here.
That's not helpful.
Go into it with a place of it'slike we're on this timeline of
(25:45):
our journey and it's like this.
It's like so many timelines.
It's not just this oneprogression.
We're not all on the same boaton this one progression.
It looks like that because whenwe're in the audition we're all
there at once, but really it'slike we're all in there at
different times of our journeys,of I had that private training
and this and that.
So we're just like a big mixedbunch of people, which is
brilliant, because there's noversion of you than the next
(26:07):
person which I mentioned before.
So I guess, honoring that andjust you know, actually laughing
about it.
You know, if you have got twoleft feet, you just give it your
best two left feet and honestly, the panel will love it.
But if you go in there withthat there's oh, they're so good
and oh my gosh, and defeatyourself already.
You're not only going to have aterrible time, but you're not
(26:28):
going to be shown as someone whocan just give it a go.
That's half the battle in MT.
Who can come onto this show andhave a good laugh and a lot of
the times in shows now, noteveryone has to dance at a level
10 or sing at a level 10.
There's room for everyone in alot of shows now.
So know that that's there.
And if it's dancing specific,there are mover calls.
(26:49):
I think they have now as well.
But yeah, that would be myadvice.
And then my second advice wouldbe is that everyone on this call
even myself included right nowknows what your need of
improvement needs to be, andthere's a level of which we are
not, or maybe you are.
There's a level right now ofwhich you are not actually, or
(27:09):
maybe you are.
There's a level right now ofwhich you are not actually
applying yourself to it, andwe're waiting for someone to
tell us to go and do it.
But you know what you need todo.
We just need to startimplementing it so that when you
get to the next audition, youdon't have this story of oh I'm
just so in this.
I'm just so in that.
So have a look at yourself now.
(27:30):
Have a look at what you canwork on and be kind with
yourself in the process.
Don't go do like 20 classes aweek or something like that.
Go right, al, what's the onething maybe this is a question
what's the one thing you can doright now that would make
everything easier or unnecessary, like?
What's one thing I can do rightnow to improve this to my dance
?
It could be to find a teacher,to find a space to find, and
(27:52):
just start with that questionand just work off.
The one thing Don't getoverwhelmed with oh, now I need
to be a part of a company.
I'm like, because we always gointo that.
Oh, you know, we want thingsreally fast.
We all like want things rightnow, and the disappointing thing
about that is that if you'rebuilding from a place of rushed
energy, then you will get thereand you will leave as quick as
(28:15):
you've got there.
So you want to start buildingfrom a place of.
I'm just going to work withthis one thing and we're going
to get better once you know, 1%each day is how many days a year
?
365't go beyond math, you know.
That's already like 300.
Oh my gosh, you know, but weonly just did one percent per
day.
Don't be discouraged by the onepercent, because it's so much
(28:36):
more powerful than doing the 300on one day, getting burnt out,
binging on the weekend and thenbeing like oh yeah, it's really,
and that's where all thatbalance comes in.
Yes, that's what.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That is so incredibly valuable and, funnily enough, I
was having a conversation likethis with one of my clients
yesterday.
We were talking about justchoosing one thing what one
thing can you do on a dailybasis, even if you can just do
it today and try and rinse andrepeat tomorrow, that's two days
that you weren't able to do twodays ago.
Right, and channeling that 1%energy.
(29:09):
Are you willing to be the 1%ersof the industry where you're
not searching for that instantgratification, you're not
searching for thatself-actualization or that
external validation, or youdon't need a round of applause
or a standing ovation to knowthat you're doing a good job?
Yeah, it's by making those tinylittle incremental journeys
every single day.
(29:29):
That little 1%, 0.1% it's morethan you did yesterday.
That's it Right and, oh mygoodness, that is so incredibly
valuable and I want to kiss yourforehead because of what you
just said.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Oh, baby, okay.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So I'm going to start to wrap things up, because I
always like to open up anopportunity for conversation.
But in a nutshell, tay, what isnext for you?
How can people get hold of you?
And a little bit of valuableadvice alongside all of the
gorgeous other value that youhave given us today.
Anything at all.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yes, so what's next for me?
I'm going to Sydney to do theshow that I'm currently doing
and then I'll have some time off.
But then, if you want to reachme on the Dive, we have a social
media handle at thedivecomau.
I also have a website,wwwthedivecomau.
Or if you want to reach mypersonal account on Instagram,
(30:32):
it's just Taylor T-A-Y-L-O-R,full stop.
Scanlan S-C-A-N.
And last words of wisdom,something that I guess I've been
learning lately is that it'snever about the goal.
We always think it's about thething, achieving the thing,
getting the thing.
But what it is actually aboutand what you're really looking
for is how you will feel and whoyou will become when you're
there, and all of that can becreated in the now.
What I mean, for example, beinga musical theatre professional
(30:53):
or a performer in the industry.
Ask yourself who is that person, what are they feeling?
Who are they surroundingthemselves with?
What are the daily actionswould they be taking and
starting to build a life aroundthat version of you?
Because I've started to do thiswith just things in my life and
it's really crazy because itcomes to you and you're just not
(31:16):
surprised.
You're like, oh cool, like agoal will come and you'll be
like nice, because you're notshocked, because actually you've
become the person and that'sultimately what you're looking
for.
You're not looking for the caror the recognition and stuff.
You're looking for actuallybecoming that person that you're
ultimately looking for, and youcan start building that now,
which is really, really exciting.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
That's what I'll say Wow, Value.
I love Fantastic Tay Tay.
Thank you so much.
If you want to be diving intothe brilliance of the brain that
is Taylor Scanlon, then you'llknow exactly where to find him.
Thank you all so much for beinghere today.
Have a beautiful rest of yourThursday.
Those of you that are going toauditions and callbacks and
(31:58):
first rounds and last rounds,whatever.
Whatever you are doing, I wishyou well and I'm really proud of
you, and keep reaching out andlet us know if you need anything
.
Right?
Lots of love, angels, bye.
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