Associative Memory refers to the way our brains form connections between different stimuli or pieces of information. For example, smelling lavender might trigger a memory of a childhood home. It’s a rapid, reflex-like process.

Cognitive Memory is broader, encompassing the mental processes of perception, logic, and reasoning. It involves encoding, storage, and retrieval of information in a more deliberate, step-by-step way.

Practical Note: In auditions, excessive cognitive analysis can slow you down. Lean on associative memory(quick connections, emotional triggers) to respond more authentically on short notice.

A state of existence where you are fully engaged with the here and now—unselfconscious and not “watching yourself.” It is not something you try to achieve; it often arises naturally when you drop all self-awareness and simply respond moment to moment.

Practical Note: Overthinking can block presence. Let yourself be surprised by what’s unfolding, rather than trying to “stay present.”

When moving from one emotional state or scene to another, take a conscious breath to “bridge” the shift. This subtle pause and inhale/exhale can reset your body and cue an internal pivot in mood, thought, or action.

Practical Note: A deliberate breath helps you drop any residue from the previous moment and enter the next with fresh energy.

Essentially the sum of responses to given conditions and circumstances. We know a character by what they do, think, and say, and by the timing or rhythm of these responses.

Practical Note: You don’t “play” a condition; you simply respond to it. The audience infers who your character is by watching how you respond under different pressures.

A character choice arises out of the script’s logic and the character’s needs or worldview. An actor choice often stems from the performer’s desire to be “interesting” or “bold” (e.g., an added flourish to impress casting).

Practical Note: Always ask: “Is this the character’s choice, or am I (the actor) forcing something to stand out?” Keep it authentic to the story.

Divided here into two primary types:

1. Focused Concentration – Directing your mental resources on one object or task, often to the exclusion of everything else.
2. Open or Diffuse Concentration – Expanding your awareness outward to take in everything (scene partner, environment, sensations) without getting trapped on a single point.

Practical Note: Actors benefit from practicing both. Open concentration helps you stay flexible and reactive to new impulses, while focused concentration lets you zero in on critical details.

Something the audience infers from visual and auditory cues. It is not something the actor “plays.” Setting, costumes, music, and editing supply context for the viewer’s brain to piece together.

Practical Note: Trust the environment (set design, period costumes, etc.) to do its job. You just need to be truthful. (See also “Non-Contextual Line” and “Situation/Given Circumstances.”)

A single line or belief that frames a character’s worldview, often buried in the script as a seemingly offhand remark. Once you spot the “core thought,” you can let it guide emotional choices across the story—even if it only appears explicitly once.

Practical Note: A line like, “I loved you from the moment I met you,” might occur in Scene 3 but can drive the character’s behavior from Scene 1 onward.
(See also “Thought Replacement” for aligning inner monologue with spoken lines.)

Summarized as Thought, Action, Behavior, and Rhythm—the four building blocks of how we communicate meaning.

1. Thought: Electrical impulses in the brain that spawn emotions.
2. Action: What you do, physically or verbally, propelled by thought.
3. Behavior: The patterns or habits that emerge from repeated actions.
4. Rhythm: The tempo and flow of speech or movement that adds nuance.

Practical Note: Mixing these four elements in different ways can convey practically anything about a character—who they are and what they want.

A chemical response triggered by specific thoughts, actions, or events—often amplified by breathing and associative memory. Emotions are results of your thoughts; they aren’t something you “aim for.”

Practical Note: Chasing an emotion as a “result” usually backfires. Instead, find the thought or action that naturally triggers it, and let the feeling arise on its own.

Empathy is a chemical reaction: you feel someone else’s joy or pain with them, often silently.
Relating is more cognitive: “I know exactly how you feel—here’s my story!” This can pull focus back onto yourself.

Practical Note: In acting, empathy with your character or scene partner fosters genuine connection. “Relating” in a self-centered way can distract from the other person’s truth.

A “made” character is constructed from external traits, backgrounds, or bullet points. A “grown” character emerges organically as you discover how they respond to changing events, letting the character’s behavior evolve naturally over time.

Practical Note: Combining both approaches is common, but staying open to “growth” often leads to richer, more unpredictable performances.

Hearing is the passive act of sound waves hitting the ear.
Listening is the active process of paying attention, absorbing, and processing those sounds. Ironically, we rarely say “See what you’re looking at,” so “Listen to what you’re hearing” can become equally redundant—if you’re truly hearing in the moment, you are already taking it in.

Practical Note: Avoid “waiting for your cue word.” Focus on the other person’s intention and emotional weight, not just their final word.

Meditate: Often involves clearing or focusing the mind to foster present-moment awareness (or a particular inward focus).
Analyze: Breaking something down for comprehension—logically, critically, and often step-by-step.

Practical Note: Both are valuable: meditation can ground you in the now (useful pre-performance), while analysis helps in rehearsal or script breakdown. Overanalyzing mid-performance can block spontaneity.

A line that could be said by almost anyone under myriad conditions, without specific names, places, or circumstances. For instance, “I miss them so much,” or “How could you do that? I trusted you.” It often reveals a core emotional truththat transcends situation.

Practical Note: Use non-contextual lines as “core thoughts” to quietly say or think before a scene. This anchors you in the present emotional moment, not just the “moment before.”

A result of repeated actions, reactions, and timing between individuals under various conditions. It’s not a static “thing,” but an ongoing dynamic that can rapidly evolve, especially on film or TV.

Practical Note: Focus on each new interaction—what do my character’s latest choices do to the relationship, and vice versa?

In performance, Share suggests offering truth and personal insight to bridge gaps with others—akin to giving a gift. Ownimplies taking or acquiring (like trying to “get the job”). Acting that’s about “sharing” fosters generosity and authenticity, whereas “owning” can turn self-serving or desperate.

Practical Note: Enter the room or scene with a desire to share something of yourself, rather than trying to possess or control the outcome.

You don’t play the situation or environment; you simply exist within it. The setting, director, and design teams supply these external conditions. Your job is to respond as a human being naturally would.

Practical Note: “Walking through air” is a normal function—don’t “act like you’re walking through air.” Let the environment shape you but don’t overplay it.

The underlying (often inferred) meaning in dialogue or action that the audience picks up from tone, body language, or context. From a neurological perspective, subtext is something the audience deduces rather than something an actor overtly “plays.”

Practical Note: Don’t chase “subtext.” Think genuine conflicting thoughts, and trust your body and micro-behaviors. The audience’s mind will do the rest.

Think: Instantaneous, chemical, actionable. One flash of thought can spark a cascade of emotions.
Think About: More intellectual and less directly connected to action. Overthinking a result can detach you from the present moment.

Practical Note: Let genuine “thinking” spur you to do something rather than sitting back to “think about” how you “should” feel.

Replacing a scripted line (or its implied meaning) with another line/thought that triggers the same emotional or psychological response in you. This aligns real internal chemistry with the outwardly spoken text—especially when the original line doesn’t resonate.

Practical Note: Alternate between the actual line and your replacement line 3–5 times, so your brain learns to respond identically to both. (See also “Core Thoughts,” which can guide your hidden truths.)