Yesterday I attended a free seminar entitled “Secrets of the Casting Process” and learned an incredible amount. On the panel were: Emilio Salituro (an agent with Muse Artist Management), Gary Marsh (founder of Breakdown Services), Jackie Lind (an emmy-award winning casting director), and Kenji Maeda (the host for the evening, but also the CEO of Production Heads Networks).

The amount of positivity present at this seminar was something that I didn’t expect. Although every member of the panel was inspirational, warm, and knowledgable, it was the passion filled speeches by Jackie Lind that caused me to inhale deep and smile big. One of the topics she spoke about was the difference between confidence and arrogance. She believes that arrogance comes from a place of insecurity and bitterness, while confidence stems from very genuine feelings of self-worth. You can’t fake confidence, but you need it when you walk into the audition room.

So here’s the question of the century: how do you become confident?

I once believed that “confidence” and “Christine” did not belong in the same sentence. When Greg and I would go out with friends I would think “okay, now I need to act confident,” and I would put on a disguise to hide behind. Over the last 6 months, I have learned that arrogance is derived from just that: trying to act confident. When you’re acting you’re not being yourself, and you could end up adopting an insincere persona that may make others feel uncomfortable. You’ll visibly seem to be trying too hard, and may even come off as a little bit annoying. Confidence is not a disguise. Anyone has the ability to sincerely achieve the confident and self-assured state that is so admired – you just need too believe in yourself. Easier said then done I know, but I genuinely feel like I’ve made (or am making) the transition. I would like to share some advice and thoughts on how to make confidence an ingredient in your life’s script too:

1. Stay grounded. 

I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay in the moment, and to breathe (a lesson I have learned from my time at Vancouver Acting School). So many people don’t breathe, but when you stop breathing you cut off the connection between your body and your brain, and you stop being you. This happens when you’re under pressure or feeling stressed.  You stop thinking rationally because you can’t think. You can’t think because you’ve stopped breathing. In order to be confident, you must feel confident and alive in every situation you encounter in your life. Remember, stress is caused by events from the future or past, not the present – so by living. By living moment to moment you immediately eliminate this obstacle.

2. Smile

A smile can go along way. If you’re nervous about an event coming up in your future, smile and think about all the positive and exciting details that you have to look forward to when the time and date arrives. Making a decision to choose happiness over sadness (or frustration, anger, resentment) will make a huge difference in the way you walk into any room.

3. Do the Work

Over everything else, you need to do the work. Not doing the work and believing that you’ll be fine is arrogance and laziness – you don’t want to be either of those things. Work towards being a master at whatever discipline you’re passionate about, and don’t be afraid to share your knowledge with others. Passion and sweat (from all of the hours you’ve worked) breeds confidence. So work hard, and believe that you deserve all of the success that is coming your way. Believe that you have a purpose, and a right to make a difference in this world (because you do).
I’d like to end this blog post with a comment by Jackie Lind, that actually ended up concluding the seminar. What she said is this (this is not a direct quote):

“If a small town girl from Saskatchewan, who was told that she would never amount to anything, can win an Emmy, then I believe that anyone in this room can win an Oscar.”

I believe you have the ability to achieve anything you want to achieve as well. We are all amazing,and we might as well own it.