Being Comfortable with Your Monologue
Try picking one from your favorite movie or book if you are allowed to choose your own monologue. Knowing your monologue beforehand can help you in the process of memorization, movement, or really the entire audition.
Try making the monologue your own if you are assigned one. See if you can figure out whether or not it came from a book, movie, or TV show. If it is, look over that part of the story about twice a day.
Do research on what the monologue talks about. If it is a kid getting in trouble with his parents, try researching tips on how to act more like a rebel. If it is a British guy getting kidnapped, research British accents, and how to act more fearful.
Memorizing
Do not try reading the monologue 15 times a day. About once or twice should work. Make sure you pick out your monologue way ahead of the audition, and you should be ready to be off book (not looking at the words) by about two weeks in advance.
Split up your monologue into about five parts. Fewer for shorter monologues, more for longer monologues. Then try to memorize it by each individual part. Memorizing two sentences a day could be a lot easier than ten sentences a day. As you progress, start linking the parts together.
Say your monologue in front of a mirror looking at your reflection as much as you can. Watching yourself say it can help you memorize it faster. Kind of like that one movie you watch where you can quote just about the entire movie, because you have watched it so many times.
Give yourself positive influence. If you tell yourself that you can't memorize it in time, will make your body naturally stop trying. If you tell yourself to work harder, you will get it done. Speaking this sentence out loud "I can memorize this whole thing before my audition" three times will boost your tolerance for memorization.
Give yourself time away from memorizing, your brain is a muscle, and like others, it gets stronger by rest.
Getting into Character
Find out as much as you can about the speaker, even if it is not from a TV show/movie/book, you can find out a lot of info from your monologue itself. Look for keywords such as "I don't care" this is found more often than you'd think, and shows that your character is very laid back, doesn't worry, and won't sweat the small stuff.
Try the monologue with your regular accent first, if it has an accent, then research that accent and know that you only have to change a few letter sounds. For example "the doctor hates pears" in a British accent would sound like "tha docta hates pehs". But most people would probably make it "tha dohctah hahtes pahrs". Remember not to over-exaggerate the accent.
Practice movement. Movement is key. A lot of directors look for movement more than words because it shows expression. don't overdo it but don't under do it either.
Dress appropriately. Don't show up for an audition dressed in a school uniform if you are auditioning for a rebel. Find what you would think your character would wear. However, if you are required by a dress code to stay in a school uniform, then it is acceptable.
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