1. Introduce yourself by name and your song by name, show, and composer and lyricist.

2. Take some time with the person who will be accompanying you on piano, unless you bring your own accompanist with you. Show them where you will start, any repeats or cuts, and where you will end. Demonstrate the tempo you want by singing a bit or snapping your fingers for a few bars. Then be sure to tell them you will nod when you are ready for them to begin.

3. If the accompanist starts before you nod, stop them, and ask again for them to wait for you to nod. Otherwise, you will find yourself mentally behind all the way through. Remember, it's your audition, not theirs. They are there to make you look good, and if they aren't doing it, don't let your urge to seem polite ruin your chance at a good audition.

4. Don't nod until you are ready. Don't let your urge to get it over with, or the feeling you shouldn't take too much of their time compel you into a premature nod. Remember, they want you to be good, and to do your best. All the same preparation guidelines apply as for a prepared monologue. when you have completed your mental preparation, say to yourself, "BREATHE!", take a slow breath deep into your back, then nod to the accompanist.

5. If the accompanist goes too fast or too slow, don't follow them. Again, this is your audition, and it needs to go the way you want it to. Sing it the way you have rehearsed it. The accompanist will either figure out what you are doing and join you, or will drop out so you can do it right by yourself. The same rule applies when the accompanist isn't up to the the difficulty of the material. If they are making lots of mistakes, just keep going as if nothing is wrong, and hopefully, they will drop out and let you continue alone.

6. If you make a mistake, you didn't make a mistake. Everything you do in an audition is absolutely intentional. If you forget some of the words, make it seem as though you left them out on purpose because you think the song is better without them at that point. And again, never apologize by word or action for anything you may think went wrong. If you don't tell them, they may never know.

7. It's better to pick an easy song you can do exceptionally well than a difficult song, which may show off more of your abilities but which you could have trouble with under stress. If they want to know more about your technical abilities, they will either ask, or work with you to discover them. And short songs are better than long ones.

8. Keep an audition notebook which contains several songs you do well. Always take the whole notebook with you, and be prepared to do any of them, in case they want to hear a second song of a different type, or the person before you sings the song you thought you were going to do. This is a good place to also carry extra copies of your photo and resume.