The 'Walk On' to me has importantance,  in showing 'Stage Presence'. Inverably you can loose ithe punters in the first few steps on the boards. While it's a simple action, for a lot it can be a great chalenge & very hard to overcome. Thus having them step outside of themselves! 

There is a few tips here:- http://www.auditionsapracticalguide.com/

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I think that one of the most important things to explain about any kind of audition process is that an actor's talent isn't ever the only factor considered, and in fact there are many different aspects which come into play when casting a show. Is the actor appropriate in terms of age and look? How well do they match up with other potential cast members? What's their availability? Their reputation (are they reliable or do they have a history of pulling out of shows/missing rehearsals)? And there's more factors that I haven't mentioned. The bottom line is that not being suitable to the part is not the same as not being talented.

Now that I think about it, a very valuable skill to teach your students (for lack of a better word) is how to cope with rejection, and how to analyse a "failed" audition constructively and then move on.

Hope these points help you Therese.

Brendan

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Talent is often not what gets you the gig. More often than not a performer's talent is a known quantity, and the factors listed in Brendan's post (and others) will play a greater part in who gets cast when and where as what.

Sure, it may not seem fair. Sure, it isn't. As I recently declaimed on this site, after holding auditions for the production I am currently directing I would have been able to cast the show three different ways with no loss of quality. However one blend of actors worked best of all, which is the one I chose.

I do think it is instructive for actors that directors explain their reasoning for not casting them. Often it isn't because the person gave a bad audition, but for things such as the elusive blend that I mentioned above.

If there are things that occur in the audition that a director doesn't like, I see no harm in them telling the auditioner what they did "wrong" , so that the auditioner learns from the experience.

Failure is commonplace- get used to it. Success is rare, which is why we all get so worked up about it.

El

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Could auditioning Techies offer a larger pool, of those wishing to perform 'On the Dark side'? Which in turn may raise the level of production.  I realise warm props would rarely opt for backstage, if they missed out on a part.

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