Savor the Success - Business Network for women entrepreneurs

Sigh.

As many of you know, I'm darn near obsessed with being a QVC guest host. If you didn't know, here is an excerpt from an earlier blog:

I grew up in what I refer to as the 'QVC Household.' This means my mom was obsessed with QVC. She set the VCR to tape the silver show or southwestern style. I hurried home from school each day to hide the little brown packages under my bed so my dad wouldn't see (3-4 every day...I kid you not). We also owned the QVC host Christmas CD and played it every night at dinner. When her yearly Christmas Card would come from them, I swore each host really signed it. Naturally, I spent my days pretending to be a host, selling everything from pencils to pots and pans and even taking 'fake callers!' I will never give up my dream to become a product host.

Anyway, right before the holiday break I had an opportunity to audition for a company that needed a spokesperson for a beauty line. The main part of the job would be to represent them on QVC, selling alongside their full time product host. Needless to say, I was super duper excited.

The only direction I was provided was to go online and research the company before the audition. So for the next few days I spent countless hours poring over the company website, reading and watching every press clipping they had, and writing and re-writing my on-air pitch. I practiced in the mirror, on webcam, in front of my husband, friends, neighbors, etc. I prepared for every possible viewer question. I dry-cleaned my outfit, did my makeup to perfection and even had my hair professionally blown out (it was a beauty product after all!)

Along the way of all my preparation, I came across someone else's audition tape they had apparently uploaded to You Tube. You see, the company was also accepting tapes from people that were unable to audition in-person in the NYC area. After watching the tape, it appeared that the person did a 30-second intro as to why they should be the spokesperson and a 3-minute product pitch. Perfect!!! - I thought. That is exactly what  I would prepare.

I arrived at the audition and was immediately instructed to put down my things and stand behind the table where the product line was sitting. The casting director turned on the camera and said ok "slate"

"Melissa Cassera," I said. (slate means say your name, in TV land)

"Ok, tell me why you should be our spokesperson and what your experience is with QVC."

I immediately launched into my prepared speech, tap dancing around the fact I had no experience with QVC but did have experience representing products on air. I was still confident that this was going well.

"OK - you have 30-seconds to talk about the product. Go."

30 SECONDS???!!!??? I stared blankly for what seemed an eternity but really was probably only a second. Because my 3-minute speech was now completely irrelevant, I had to figure out how to cut it down to 30-seconds. CRAP,CRAP CRAP - I thought inside.

I launched into my prepared speech anyway (I had to start somewhere) until I realized that I was babbling about everything BUT the product. When the casting director give me the ‘let's wrap it up' signal, I realized that I didn't even say the price. My closing was ‘and you can buy it now for $49.99.'

I was so lost that I didn't even say the right price.

And....even worse.....I FORGOT TO SAY THE PRODUCT NAME.

How can you audition for QVC to represent a product and NEVER say the product name?

Sigh.

Fortunately, I laughed immediately at the situation. Hey, every audition is practice, and at least I know what never to do again.

So, what is the biggest lesson from my mishap?

Always prepare a 30-second product pitch. As much as I tell everyone until I'm blue in the face about telling your story in 30-seconds, guess who didn't follow her own advice?

Yup - that's right - it was me.  

 Melissa Cassera blogs regularly about life at www.melissaslifelessons.com