Cold Reading Scripts - How To Hold Them

While how you hold the script during a cold reading isn't nearly important as how you portray the character, it can have an effect on how you read the lines and how the Casting Director sees you.

The best way I've found to hold the script is in your off hand (left if you're right handed and vice-versa) at about chest level. If it's too high you'll be hiding your face and if it's too low you'll constantly have to bring it up in order to read it. And because it's in your off hand, you're free to gesture and point as you normally would.

Try to avoid waving the script around or using it as a prop. You don't have to pretend it doesn't exist, just try to think of it as a natural extension of your body. The less attention you draw to the fact you have a script in your hand, the better.

Last article in our Cold Reading Acting series