As an actor, if you are not constantly looking for ways to sharpen your skills, and stand out in the industry, you will likely find yourself being left behind quickly. Most actors start their journey with the use of improv.

It’s easy to do, it’s fun and it has a low barrier to entry so that’s naturally where most actors start.

Coincidentally, that’s what makes actors move away from practicing improv. They prefer to move on to other areas and techniques instead and many of them never revisit improv again.

However, professional actors don’t take it for granted. They know that improv is one of the fundamental building blocks of your acting career, so they never leave it behind.

Improv not only cultivates essential skills for professional actors but it also fosters personal growth and incredible networking opportunities.

Many professional actors start their careers through improv and if you want to build your career as a professional actor, this is something you might want to revisit too. Here’s where to start...

Acting relies on skillfully using a tool that many actors don’t pay enough attention to. They tend to spend most of their time working on things that are related but they don’t spend nearly enough time fully focusing on this.

The ones that do focus heavily on it, tend to be the actors that go on to build careers as professional actors.

See the difference is striking when you compare an actor that focuses on this, to an actor that does not.

The actor that does not, tends to be passed over by Casting Directors because they appear inexperienced during auditions and self tapes.

The actor that doesn’t focus on this may mumble their lines, mispronounce words, or speak too quickly, making it difficult for their character to seem genuine.

Professional actors don’t do that.

They speak clearly and confidently, and that takes their performance to another level. That makes it much easier for CDs to connect with the performance too.

Your diction and enunciation have a massive effect on your overall vocal performance. Actors tend to learn about this very early in their career so most of them think they have it mastered.

Professional actors are the ones that truly do.

So if you want to build your career as a professional actor, focusing on this is something you should master too. Here’s where to start...

There’s something that most actors get lost in when they first start building their career. In fact, over the years, I’ve seen that most of them don’t evolve past a certain point, regardless of how much time they eventually spend in the industry.

They dedicate themselves almost entirely to perfecting their craft.

This is because acting is an art form that requires skill and talent, unlike almost anything else and it’s not an inherently subjective art form.

Whether you have been in the industry for some time or if you are in the early stages of building your acting career, it’s important to work on perfecting your craft.

However, it’s also important that you don’t get stuck in that process.

Professional actors learn how to balance the things necessary to build their acting career, with perfecting their craft.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, you need to learn that balance as well. Here’s where to start...

Virtually every actor I have met over the years, dreamed of the day when they would finally get to hear the words “and the nominees are” followed by their name.

The Academy Awards are the preeminent industry event and simply being in attendance can be absolutely career changing. Of course being nominated and winning an Oscar is often a pivotal moment for actors.

Not only do the nominees and winners benefit from their increased industry visibility, they also provide a blueprint for other actors to follow.

Most actors don’t really seize the opportunity though. They watch the awards show just like everyone else and gossip about the winners afterwards.

However, professional actors do something completely different. They know that being in attendance is critical so they do everything possible to get to attend.

At the very least, they watch the show to study the winners and nominees. If you want to build your career as a professional actor, that’s something you should do too. Here’s where to start...

Auditioning is always a high stakes, nerve wracking situation that is impossible to avoid as an actor.

Over the years I have met actors that loved the audition process. They thrived under the pressure.

However, that was a small group of them. Most actors auditioned only because they had to. After all, how else would you show casting directors and industry decision makers that you're the perfect fit for the role?

Those actors had the tendency of burning out rather quickly and leaving the industry. The other actors, the ones that accepted the pressure and the challenges that are inherent to the auditioning process, were typically the ones that were able to build careers as professional actors.

If you want to build your own career as a professional actor, you have to know how to overcome the challenges and dominate the audition process.

Regardless of where you are in your acting career there are several things you can do to dominate your next audition. Here’s where to start...

Lately, we have been talking about Pilot Season. Specifically, we have been going over the reasons why many actors are unable to make any meaningful progress, while a small group of actors are able to take their careers to the next level during Pilot Season.

Over the years, I’ve seen incredibly talented actors struggle to build their careers and much of it is due to their inability to capitalize on big opportunities.

On the other hand, the actors that are able to seize opportunities are the ones that go on to build their careers as professional actors.

Also, the relationships they build with Casting Directors are key to their success.

See, Casting Directors are looking for something in particular from actors and they are especially alert during pilot season.

Professional actors are aware of that and know how to seize it. If you want to build your career as a professional actor here’s how you can do it too...

Everyone in the industry is in Pilot Season mode. Actors are making sure they have their headshots and everything else ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Casting Directors are gearing up to deal with jam packed schedules for the projects they are casting, and agents are busy submitting their clients to try and get them auditions for those projects.

It’s a busy season for everyone in the industry but that doesn’t mean that everyone will be able to make the most of it.

Most actors will simply go through the motions, expecting something to happen, but they won’t really make any meaningful career progress during pilot season.

Professional actors don’t leave huge opportunities, like pilot season, to chance. They always ensure that they make the most of everything they do.

They approach pilot season in a completely different way than most actors do.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, that’s something you should do too. Here’s where to start...

For most actors, pilot season never really turns out the way they hoped.

Even though they start with a ton of excitement and enthusiasm around the idea of this year being different from all the others, something happens.

Somewhere along the line, they realize things are not working out any better than they did before, and they start to get incredibly frustrated long before pilot season is over.

Does that sound a little bit familiar?

Whether you are in the early stages of your acting career, or if you have been in the industry for a long time, pilot season is an opportunity like none other when it comes to building your acting career.

That’s why professional actors put a lot of effort into making sure they get the most out of every pilot season.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, pilot season can give you some of the best opportunities you will ever be presented with.

Here’s how you can make sure that you are ready to seize them...