You times ten [savvy actor]

Having some trouble brainstorming on your personal brand?  Here’s a creative exercise for you. If someone was doing a huge outlandish caricature of you, what would you tell them to do?  Which physical features would be the largest? What personality traits would be way out there? How about vocal qualities?  What two or three readily identifiable characteristics would help this person capture your essence?

Guilty pleasure alert: I love watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo.  Each week, phenomenal drag artists are given a task.  Assignments have included writing their own comedy routine, designing an outfit to match a cake, and filming a video for the troops overseas. The best part of the show for me is seeing how each artist interprets the assignment and makes it their own.  The latest challenge as of this writing: they were each given a male athlete and were challenged with making up that athlete in their own image (or as we’d say in Savvy speak: brand!). These drag artists had to ask themselves, “What qualities define me as a performer?”  Results included a classic 1940’s spirit; boobs, fishnets and piles of hair; and showing lots of body. And since it was drag, the choices were bold and extreme.

Well, being the actor marketing geek I am, I got to thinking about what choices I would make to take a person and make them into a version of Doug Shapiro multiplied by 10.  Well, I’ve got very prominent facial features, so their nose and chin would be prominent enough to get them cast in any Sherlock Holmes adventure.  I pride myself on being a chameleon, so they would have fifteen costume changes in five minutes with different vocal stylings for each. I’m also a “connector”, so they would be introducing audience members to each other until each had a new business or love connection.  This mental play allows me a huge brainstorm on the qualities that make up my brand: I am a charactery, versatile connector.  Now that I have the outlandish big version of myself, I can bring it back and start making appropriate choices for audition material.

Well Savvy Actors, the gauntlet is thrown down. I hereby challenge you first with this mental exercise.  If you were to make an extreme version of yourself in look, essence, and action: Who is “You Times 10?” Okay, you’ve got the template. Now, hit the resources and find those audition sides, monologues, and songs that showcase those extremes.  Industry people at your auditions aren’t a panel of judges.  They’re your lucky audience and deserve to see not just the true you—but the true you in extraordinary circumstances. So, hit that audition runway and WORK your Savvy Thang!

Doug Shapiro, a career consultant with The Savvy Actor, takes great pride in helping clients master their careers. He is renowned for his ‘FODapalooza’ networking events and monthly e-newsletters. Doug’s eight years with Right Management, a company that provides career management services, provided the foundation for his expertise in self-marketing, interviewing and networking techniques. Doug works as a performer as well as a guest lecturer on the business of acting.  Doug graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Musical Theater, Vocal Jazz, and Stage Management and has been working steadily in the Boston and New York City markets ever since.  DougShapiro.com