Be a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer: The Audition Mindset That Changes Everything
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote something in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that has stayed with me for years — long before I figured out how directly it applies to voice acting:
"In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society."
He was talking about the church. About moral leadership. About the difference between those who reflect the world as it is... and those who actively work to shape it into something better.
I read it and immediately think about applying this mindset in life, but of course also, my auditions.
Two Kinds of Voice Actors in Every Audition Queue
A thermometer records the temperature of the room.
It reacts. It reflects. It tells you what's already there. It has no influence on the environment — it just measures it.
A thermostat changes the temperature.
It has a target. It acts on the environment rather than simply reporting it. It transforms the conditions rather than mirroring them.
In voice acting... both of these show up in audition submissions every single day.
The thermometer actor records the spec. They read what the copy asks for. They deliver what they think the casting director wants to hear. They conform to the temperature that already exists.
The thermostat actor brings something the spec couldn't have anticipated. They transform the material by bringing genuine humanity to it. They change the temperature of the room — even in a recorded submission nobody else will ever see being made.
Casting directors feel the difference immediately. And they choose thermostats.
An Audition Is a Collaboration
Here's a reframe I want you to carry into every audition you submit:
You are a professional solving a problem alongside other professionals.
Not a performer hoping to be chosen. Not an applicant waiting for approval. A collaborator. A contributor. Someone whose specific, particular, irreplaceable point of view is a genuine asset to the creative problem being solved.
The problem? Finding the right voice for this project. Right now.
And here's what that means for how you approach the audition:
You are not there to interpret the copy in order to please. You are there to bring real humanity to material that needs it. To be seen — whether cast or not — as someone who understands the work, respects the craft, and contributes something of genuine value to the process.
Whether you book this particular role or not... your contribution matters.
We talked about this in Bold Choices — casting directors remember the voices that surprised them even when they don't book. You are building something every time you submit. A thermostat builds something. A thermometer just takes a reading.
Adjust Your Sails — Not Your Standards
There's an important nuance here that I want to be clear about.
Being a thermostat does not mean ignoring the spec. It does not mean doing something wild and unexpected just to stand out. It does not mean making the audition about you at the expense of the material.
It means staying completely in sync with the writing environment... while raising it.
An actor's job is never to comment on the material. Never to judge the copy or complain about the casting or decide the writing isn't worth your full investment.
Your job is to adjust your sails to fit the conditions — and then sail better than anyone else in that audition queue.
The squeaky wheel doesn't book. The actor who elevates what they're given? That's the one casting can't stop thinking about.
Auditioning Is a Skill. Practice It Like One.
Here's something that doesn't get said enough:
Auditioning is a skill entirely separate from performing. And it requires its own dedicated, consistent practice.
There is simply no substitute for having a process — a real, repeatable, personal process — for finding yourself within the copy. For making the spec's words become your words. For letting the script become your thoughts, your feelings, your memories, rather than lines written by someone else that you happen to be saying out loud.
The spec is only one piece of the puzzle. A useful piece — but just one.
The other piece is YOU. Your point of view. Your specific humanity. Your particular way of caring about the listener and the story.
When those two pieces fit together... the copy stops sounding like copy. It sounds like a person. With something real to say.
That's the audition worth submitting.
You're Not Auditioning to Get It Right
I want to end with something that I was taught early on in my career, and it’s incredibly profound.
You're not auditioning to get it right.
You're auditioning to show them your understanding of what's right.
Those are not the same thing.
"Getting it right" is a thermometer goal. It means conforming to what you think is expected. Reflecting the temperature of the room back at whoever's listening.
"Showing your understanding of what's right" is a thermostat goal. It means arriving with genuine conviction about this copy, this character, this moment — and delivering that conviction with complete professional commitment.
One of those gets you overlooked.
The other gets you remembered.
Be the thermostat. 😉
Want to Build Your Audition Process?
Developing a real, personal, repeatable audition process — one that makes your submissions consistently feel like a thermostat rather than a thermometer — is exactly the work we do together in coaching sessions.
Nate Begle is a voice actor, audio producer, and performance coach at Begle Booth Studios in Orlando, FL... with over 25 years in the voiceover industry.
