Have you ever found yourself standing in the audition waiting room with a sick stomach full of knots? Too many things running through your head… “Did I make the right choices? Am I the right look for this role? What was my moment before? I only had two hours to prep… ARE MY LINES MEMORIZED?!?” Since you are reading this, you know how important techniques for quickly memorizing your lines are to the audition process.
Want to know what the acting pros use to memorize lines fast? I am going to tell you all their secrets and help get you off-book in less time. The seasoned actors know they have a process that works and a method to break down the elephant into small bite size pieces. The first task is to create their own trusted technique and allow the system to do most of the heavy lifting. After reading this article, you will know best practices for memorizing lines quickly and be able to practice and choose what works best for you. From there, well…
Picture this scenario instead: you are on the stage (in front of the camera, second acting class of the month or maybe the first performance of your play). You are feeling confident and your head is high. Your lines are natural, flowing, like water down a river, no stumbles, no stutters. You smile… the corners of your mouth turn up. You know this character is yours. It is you. You got this! So how do we get you to THIS confident place quicker?
There are few great line memorization apps on the market to help you memorize your lines faster. But, the best line memorization app we have found to date is The Actor’s Lines. While fewer actors are visual learners and some are more tactile, many more are benefitting from hearing their lines read to them and/or saying them out loud.
The Actor’s Lines script memorization app provides a simple and easy way to record your full script, repeat it back to you while you learn your lines and cues. The app then mutes your lines so you can practice with your 24/7 on call scene partner – your smart phone. The Actor’s Lines stands out more than the other line memorization apps due to how easy it is to use and the simple tutorials. Best of all, the designer of The Actor’s Lines is a working actor who had tested it with many other actors.
Whatever you use to create your personal line memorization method, below you will find ten strategies recommended by professional actors and memorization experts. Hone these memorization techniques and you will nail your next audition.
NEW TO ACTING? Go to the Understand the Big Picture section at the bottom and then return here.
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Already a pro needing a refresher? Looking for OTHER MEMORIZATION METHODS?
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All the line memorization techniques below are for actors to try out a few times each and either keep in their repertoire or toss. Memorization strategies are like the rest of the acting techniques, some work for a bunch of people and other techniques only work on a couple. Try a couple per audition and keep what works. Ditch the rest.
Even if you have gone digital with a line memorization app, grab that archaic writing utensil (a pen) and some paper. Now, try writing and then rewriting your lines. If you have lots of dialogue, you may only need to write your longer monologues, but writing everything down solidifies all of it.
Research shows how physical writing assists in learning more efficiently than typing on a computer. Physically writing things down embeds your lines into your subconscious. Also, you may find how speaking each line as you write is helpful. The key is focusing on each word as you write it.
Yes, writing it all down like this takes time and is tedious work. Nonetheless, until you train your mind to be photographic, this helps. Once you have written out your lines once, do it again. Write them repeatedly until you can do so without missing a single word.
Try over exaggerating movements as you repeat your lines. On top of that, do completely unrelated physical activities. When your lines are completely memorized, you should be able to do repetitive activities while still saying the memorized lines. Run on a treadmill. Do jumping jacks. Juggle. This is part of a process known as “active experiencing,” and helps encode the lines into your mind. Any character physicality helps move the script out of your brain and into your body.
Another memorization technique where many professional memorizers are turning, is the memory palace. The ancient Greeks and Romans referred to this as the “method of loci” (loci is Latin for “places”), philosophers and other orators used it to memorize multiple word speeches.
To create a memory palace, visualize yourself walking into a location you know very well. Could be a childhood home, somewhere you live right now, or your work. Picture a room within that place. What furniture is in the room? What color are the walls? What about the flooring? Are there any specific items within this room jumping to the surface of your mind? You automatically remember these concrete examples with little or no effort. Now, all you have to do is associate the lines of your script with the items in your palace.
Begin by walking into the front door and creating images to associate with the first major group of lines. Then you walk throughout your home and create the associations with each room (or items within these rooms). Try to make the images and lines you are associating with each location dramatic or absurd – you can even endow the image with something from the line to tie them together. If your first line is “Where did you put my lunch?” think of yourself walking through the front door and seeing someone you least expect but also doing something weird, like Tom Cruise eating an earth worm and hot sauce sandwich. Hard to forget that. It also helps to use your substitutions at this point.
We all know how repetition is the mother of memorization skills. Start by recording the lines of your scene for playback – record all the lines from the script. Then listen to these recordings over and over again. Listen while you are in the car, standing in lines, sitting on the toilet, exercising, etc. Do this even if you have to resort to recording the lines in an old-fashioned tape recorder.
In the beginning, playback the entire script with your lines included. Practice saying the lines along with the recording. If you have the Actor’s Lines app, once you feel confident, toggle it to mute your lines. While the lines are muted but the countdown is still going, say your lines out loud. The app spends roughly the same amount of time playing through silence as it took you to say the line. Then, as if you are working with another actor, the app continues to read your partner’s lines after yours.
You can repeat without inflection or add in many different takes on the line as you can think of – more on this in the next section. Once you have them down and think you are as solid as possible, speed them up and run Italians (where you and your scene partner go as fast as you can). In the case of the Actor’s Lines app, you have a speed control at the bottom you can use. Do not stop until the lines flow out of you subconsciously.
Once you feel like your lines are memorized well, begin experimenting with the ways you deliver the memorized lines. Recite them in different ways. Try saying the serious lines in a comedic tone or delivering the humorous lines as if they are supposed to be dramatic – do the opposite of your intention and figure out a reason why this type of delivery might work for this character. Be angry when you should be happy and be loving when you are expected to be upset. Go over the top with these variations. You are an actor – you need to be creative and figure out how you are going to make these lines not only yours, but different from everyone else.
Some of the most memorable lines in cinematic history were improvised or read in ways outside the original script’s intention. Even if you never alter the text during your performance, this practice is another way to learn to dwell within your character and prevent you from being a robot spewing words from paper.
Variation is what many directors want to test on set, now. Nothing like a director coming up to you to ask you to do it differently and you have 3-4 completely different variations in reserve you can spew off to them without even thinking. You also want to be prepared to take direction and the only way to do this is by having many different ways already on hand.
Rehearse your lines in the shower – this is where I come up with the best variations I wouldn’t have imagined otherwise. Your place might not be the shower but the more places you are practicing – car, breakfast, coffee shop, park, walking your dog, the better the chances are you can get those lines more ingrained into your psyche.
Not only place, but rehearse them during various moments during the day. You relate to the character and script differently early in the morning than you do late at night. Likewise, on the weekends you might learn different methods of flow which may be unavailable during the week. Some studies suggest that working on lines before going to bed helps with line memorization. At the very least, this seems to improve your ability to recall. Combining this with going back through your lines in the morning is often very effective. Every actor is different, and experimentation might be the only way you find your muse.
Every actor is different and what helps YOU memorize YOUR lines might be quite different from anyone else. The most important thing is to discover what works best for you. Likewise, what works for one script might not work for another. Use all of these strategies or just one. Even if you are an experienced actor and already proficient at memorizing lines, some of these steps might improve your methods or the time it takes.
Best way to know what works is to write it down. Start a journal. When you get the audition, take down what steps you want to try first to get these lines off-book. The next time, take what you have written from the last time and switch up the order. Then write down how well you think you did at memorizing your lines. Once you get confident in what works for you, keep refining the method and follow it every time. The more comfortable you are with your memorization techniques, the more you will avoid the stress you feel every time you get a new script.
One sure fire method which has worked for many of the pros is to use an app like The Actor’s Lines. There are many of these techniques already built into it. Also, there are alternative apps you can use as well, but this one is built by an actor for actors and why it’s trusted by many pros.
All apps aside, you have to condition yourself to learn your lines quickly. There are no shortcuts, but there are trusted methods and aids that allow you to focus on what works for you. You must create your method, trust your process, and tweak it as you grow as an actor.
All apps aside, you have to condition yourself to learn your lines quickly. There are no shortcuts, but there are trusted methods and aids that allow you to focus on what works for you. You must create your method, trust your process, and tweak it as you grow as an actor.
You have done the prep and now the most important part is to know this – it is time to breath and relax. If you miss a line or substitute a word, it is no big deal. The world will not end and the casting director/director/writer won’t care (they will on the day on set but not in the room). Even if you stumble over your line, like a true pro – stop if you have to, go back a few lines and start again. They will love you for it cause that what the pros do when the camera is rolling.
From Stanislavski (Chekhov, Meisner, Strasberg, Hagen) to Mamet to every teacher you may have had, no matter what the teaching style or whether you are the main character or have a bit part, you must understand the overarching purpose of the movie, television show, play, or commercial. Know your context and purpose. Read it like a novel. Picture the film in your head as you read and, if it’s the first time reading the piece, go from beginning to end non-stop. Your first and most important job is to understand the whole script and how it interconnects.
Seems like a no brainer but you would be amazed at how many people skip this step and go straight to memorization methods. Read and deeply understand every page over and over until you have a clear picture of what the audience sees. The lines start making their way into your subconscious without you even trying to get them down.
When talking audition sides (the snippet of your script which is usually the only piece you get from the whole script), make sure you read EVERYTHING on the page. If there is another character in another scene on the page above where your scene starts, even if it is crossed out, read it. You never know what tidbits might be there.
As you go over the sides or script, read between the lines. Ask yourself the “must know” questions. Do you know what the text means? Do you understand your character’s needs? Why does your character say what he or she says? Why does your character not say or do other things? What are your character’s objectives? What about the other characters? What do they want? Understanding the other characters helps you figure out why your character responds the way she or he does.
Understanding the big picture helps your lines flow naturally from scene to scene. The words cease to be lines needing to be memorized and turn into meaning and intention causing the lines to flow naturally. Many actors do not realize how effective the first step is in helping you learning your lines faster.
Once you understand the big picture, begin to examine each scene deeply. There are many books written on this technique alone, but before you start tackling line memorization, you must develop an understanding of how each scene fits into the overall story and how each beat fits into each scene. Beats are each intention or unit of action a character has in a scene. Find each beat (which takes practice) and separate them.
From there, find the “objective” of all your character’s scenes and beats. Discover what you are communicating and what you want with each beat. What do you want from the other person? Determine which words and actions are moving the story along the writer’s aim and along yours.
By the time you complete this step, you have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the script. With new eyes, take another look at your character. Chances are you now have a complete understanding of your character’s backstory. You may find that you automatically understand their motivations and why they employ certain tactics to face their emotional struggles.
Believe it or not, if you thoroughly went through the first two strategies, you have already done more than most of your acting competition. You understand the story arc and the motives of your character. Better still, you can improve your odds even more by reading it through with others and getting feedback.
Whether you choose a coach, a trusted friend, or both, read through the script with another person. If you already know one of your cast-mates, schedule a time to do a read through. This provides insight into alternative views and ideas. You want these people to give you fresh eyes. Allow them to shine some light on plot points you may not have seen.
Talking through points on the script help solidify choices you made and also gives the strength of context to help put more behind each line you say. Doing this work helps your subconscious mind re-enforce the lines you are learning. Also, the more you practice your lines with different people, the easier and more natural they become.
NOW HEAD BACK TO THE SECTION CALLED LINE MEMORIZATION TECHNIQUES