So the question of the day is: How to become a better actor without taking classes?
In this article, we'll dive deep on ways to improve not only your acting technique, but also how to stand out in the audition room and get noticed so you start generating more opportunities for yourself. It doesn't matter your age, skill level, who you know, or how much experience you have – what matters most is simply a willingness to work at bettering yourself consistently. How to Become a Better ActorSo how do I improve my acting? Well, there are four primary ways to become a better actor: practice, work, study, and life. We'll discuss each in depth, and then you can spend time on whichever area(s) you feel most drawn to. But before we get into the specifics, it's important to first understand HOW people learn and improve, because contrary to what most people think, becoming better is not a consistent, long process. In fact, most people get better at things in staircase fashion, where it takes a few weeks of almost zero noticeable progress, but then suddenly, there's an EXPLOSION and you're WAY better instantly. So don't get discouraged if, as you implement what you learn in this article, you don't see results immediately. It might take 2-3 weeks of working on each action item below before you suddenly have a big jump in improvement (a "breakthrough"). Ready to get started?
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Martin Bentsen (author of this guide) is an actor marketing coach who uses “outside the industry” thinking to help actors book more work. He’s helped over 6,000 actors with their careers and actor headshots since 2009 and his photography studio City Headshots is ranked #1 on Yelp. He’s spoken at NYU, The New England Theater Conference, The Actor’s Green Room, and other venues. Want to book more acting work by thinking different? Start with his free Actor’s Toolkit to create new opportunities right away, or visit his website at www.martinbentsen.com. |
Some Additional Q&A
How Can I Improve My Acting Skills at Home?
If you're wondering about how to get better at acting at home, start by re-reading this guide where I dive deep on a ton of different methods you can use.
But if I had to sum it all up here's what I would say:
But if I had to sum it all up here's what I would say:
- How to be a Better Actor on Stage: Ask at least three friends to watch you perform a monologue live, while taking three notes on what they liked best and three notes on what they liked least. The act of performing live and getting feedback from people will help you improve your performances very quickly.
- How to be a Better Actor on Camera: Record yourself performing a monologue and watch it back whilst sitting next to someone. We tend to be harsher critics of ourselves when watching ourselves while also sitting next to someone else. Make sure to read my Natural Acting guide as well.
Is Acting a Skill or Talent?
Acting is a mixture of both skill AND talent. Some people are born with a natural talent for acting, and others take YEARS to hone their acting skills until they're good enough to start booking real, paid work.
Personally, I think it's a benefit for those of us who are not naturally talented. Why? Because it mean you'll develop the habit of hard work necessary to grow an acting career from scratch – a muscle that people with natural talent are less-likely to build since they have it easier at the beginning.
Personally, I think it's a benefit for those of us who are not naturally talented. Why? Because it mean you'll develop the habit of hard work necessary to grow an acting career from scratch – a muscle that people with natural talent are less-likely to build since they have it easier at the beginning.
Further Reading:
If you enjoyed this article (How to become a Better Actor... For Free), you might be interested in some of these:
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