While our favorite film and television stars make it look easy, acting for film requires a variety of skills few ever come to master. It’s why an acting degree is so important at an early age— there’s no better way to start learning the ins and outs of the industry before diving in.
Whether you make a career out of acting or take another route later in life, here are several ways an acting degree or conservatory program prepares you for more than just acting.
- Confidence under pressure.
Most careers out there will put you in a high-pressure situation at some point. This can be an intimidating thought if you’ve always been a naturally shy person or simply don’t work well under stress. Becoming a good actor is impossible without developing self-awareness and confidence, since you’re tasked with embodying human emotion, character, and memorizing lines to deliver them later in front of either a live audience or film team. Acting skills can be used in all kinds of daily situations.
Experience performing everything from silly to emotional roles will leave you with a stronger sense of confidence that’s perfect for taking on auditions, interviews, meetings, and more.
- Teamwork.
If there’s one thing you can expect to do throughout your acting studies, it’s working with others. While individual skills and roles are important, how well a group connects to overcome hurdles often influences the impact of the performance. This is why actors are taught to become strong team players in order to collaborate better with others and build off each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
It goes without saying that almost every industry outside of acting is looking for people who can become an effective, positive contributor into their team.
- Public speaking.
They say almost three out of four people have some form of glossophobia — the fear of public speaking. However, being able to speak in front of people without stuttering or panicking is a valuable skill almost everywhere. Since acting is all about talking and performing in front of an audience, an acting degree is a great way to build skills that can directly translate to public speaking and help you overcome any anxiety about presenting yourself in a diverse variety of professional settings.
If you can learn to speak clearly in front of people, including delivering moving monologues, then giving a convincing speech or leading a meeting elsewhere will be no problem.
- Learn how to listen.
The ability to respond based off of what we hear, as opposed to how we feel or what we were thinking while others were speaking, is a skill worth improving. In acting classes you are taught to pay attention in order to perform on cue, improvise a line if someone messes up, etc. Acting is all about listening, timing, and responding to others, which means those who don’t listen will fail to deliver a moving, believable performance.
An acting degree or conservatory program will leave you with refined communication skills that are important for finding success in showbiz, other careers, and even in your relationship with friends and loved ones.
- Building strong friendships.
Speaking of relationships, a great way to form bonds with people is by working together on something you all share a passion for. Even if you don’t become bffs with everyone in your acting classes, you’ll gain respect for each other and connect while learning in a dynamic and intensive educational environment. But more often than not, a long-lasting relationship is formed between students who worked toward a fun, challenging goal together.
Learning to act puts you in touch with your own inner humanity, which helps you build empathy and form connections with other humans. Never a bad thing!
No matter where you find yourself in life, your level of happiness will probably be much higher if you learn to form friendships with other employees and bosses. Learning to build character relationships while playing roles with varying viewpoints can also help make you a more empathetic and understanding person. Ready to learn more about acting? Check out our acting degree and acting conservatory programs!