To make something one’s own is to take something and adapt it to oneself. Knowing how to do this is absolutely essential in the camera ready universe.
Whether you are auditioning for a project and reading the same script as everyone else or interviewing for a job and meeting all of the same qualifications as every other applicant, how you make it your own determines if you make it to the next round and ultimately get hired.
My dear friend and colleague, Sean De Simone, is a highly respected casting director and coach and describes it as, “when someone is making it their own for me is when I like kind of sit up straight and like I start to listen a little bit more and my clients start to get a little bit more excited when we see people sort of breaking away from what we think they think we want to see and they are just being themselves.”
Sean also make the important distinction between “owning it” and “making it your own.”
To “own it” is to make an emotional commitment. When you truly own it you are all in.
To “make it your own” means to adapt, augment and enhance; to put your personal stamp on something and distinguish it as yours.
Key tips:
- Play to your strengths
- Adapt to the situation
- The personal is professional
- Identify ways to connect personally to the content
- Use I Statements
If you’re not sure what your strengths are, check out my favorite personal branding tool, the HOW TO FASCINATE ASSESSMENT.
