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Five Steps to Confidence on Stage

March 17, 2010 By voiceclubcoach Leave a Comment

One of the top concern shared by singers the world over is how to be more confident on stage.  Maybe it’s the new venue, someone special in the audience or just the fear of the unknown that has you distracted from enjoying performing.  Regardless there are a few things you can do to minimize stress and nerves and own your show.

1.    Rehearse, Rehearse, RehearseRehearsal
Not just your words, but your arrangement, where you’re going to add trills, how you’ll move around the stage during the song and the transitions between songs.  Just like songs follow format, your show should have a map so you know where you’re going.  Having a plan for your show doesn’t make it less spontaneous, it makes you a pro.  And the more comfortable you are with the flow of your show, the more confident you will both appear to your audience and be.

2.    Train, Train, Train
If you have things about your voice that you’re not solid on, get lessons from a qualified instructor.  If you find you’re distracted by trying to find the next guitar chord, get help.  Whatever it is that’s diverting your attention away from where it should be, training and experience will help to remove it from the equation.

3.    Stop Stressing on StageNervous Wreck
The time to stress about vocal strain, reaching the high note, if you look dumb taking the mic off the stand, etc., is when you’re not on stage.  That stress is there to drive you to take control and work those things out ahead of time.  But once your foot hits that stage, give NONE of it another thought.  Audiences may not know much about what you’ve done to get here, but they can spot nervous and self-conscious a mile away; and it makes them uncomfortable too.  Once you hit the stage it’s time to enjoy what happens and give your audience a good time.  Let the chips fall where they may; you’ll have until the next show to fix whatever you don’t like.

4.    Don’t Draw Attention to Mistakes
Most of the mistakes on a stage that the audience knows about are the ones you tell them about.  Really.  They’re there to have a good time and they expect to enjoy what you do (with very few exceptions).  If you forget the words, fill in with another line or make something up.  If you completely blow that vocal trill, pretend you didn’t and chance are, they won’t even remember it.  But tell them you’ve messed up, either by saying something or just by the look on your face and both you and your audience will have less faith in you.  Confidence comes from taking control.  Don’t let your own opinion give you away.

5.    Perform with Authorityauthority-563138150
If someone let you get on that stage, you have been given permission to be in charge.  Understand the responsibility of that and rise to the occasion.  Look people in the eye.  Tell them what to expect by introducing yourself, telling something about yourself and letting them know you’re all going to have a good time.  Take them along for the ride.  YOU are in charge.  If you don’t take the reigns, regardless of your nerves, they know they’re in for trouble.  A world of mistakes and mishaps are forgiven for the artist who knows how to perform with authority.

Confidence comes from being prepared and taking charge.  You’d be surprised how many major artists get horribly nervous at the start of a show.  Nerves are just part of the game many times.  But when they hit, you’ll know you can fall back on all of the work you’ve done to get there, take the stage and just do your thing.

Are you confident on stage?  What’s your secret?  Share it below and help everyone.

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5 Steps to Becoming a Pro By Your Next Performance

September 12, 2009 By voiceclubcoach Leave a Comment

purpleworshipersWhether you’re an independent artist, fronting a band, singing in a musical or soloing on Sunday, you can instantly amp up your next performance by following this tips.

5.  Know Your Stuff.

It seems like a no brainer but there are so many singers that do little more than scan over the songs they’re preparing so as not to ‘prepare the spontaneity out of their performance.’  The fact is that the more rehearsed you are, the better your song or show will be.  You did take the time to pick out songs, right?  So you’re already preparing your performance.  Now go the rest of the way.  Make sure you know your words.  Make sure you have prepared optional styling licks for songs you’re having trouble with or those harder to sing during illness or fatigue.  Before you focus on who’s bringing the bottled water, make sure your job is done.

4.  Prepare for Calamity.

Ok, that may be a big dramatic, but the point is; stuff happens.  The mic’s not on.  The MC introduced you as someone else.  Your voice cracks just as your heading into your signature trill.  Since the chances of you having a perfect performance every time is… well, let’s say small, plan now for how you’ll recover from these things so they don’t catch you off guard.  If nothing else, take a minute and decide if something goes wrong you’ll find a focus point and smile for (x) seconds.  If it’s not back on track by then, you’ll talk about (x), etc.  The next time something goes wrong, you’ll look like a real pro.

3.  Be Physically Ready to Sing.

Preachin’ to the choir here, but if I had a dollar for every time I thought I didn’t need to warm up on the way to a gig in the early days.  Wait, am I so old that I now have ‘early days’?  Anyway,  regardless of how very talented you are, you will not be at your best unless you are hydrated and warmed up.  Do some simple lip or tongue trills on the way to the gig.  Do a gentle ‘mmmm’ up and down and get those pipes going.  And that bottle of water someone is bringing for you, that’s not going to hydrate you.  That’s just to keep your mouth moist.  To keep everything working at peak performance you need to be hydrated all the time.  If you’re not good at drinking enough water, plan to start getting good a solid week before your show.

2.  Act Like a Pro.

The sound guy sabotages you.  A heckler won’t leave you alone.   The guitarist from the band before is still unplugging his gear half way into your first song.   There are plenty of reasonably frustrating things that happen when you’re onstage,  and some of them can be outright nasty.  But respond to them negatively on stage and the only one who will be hurt is you.  Keep your composure,  your class and all of those new fans.

1.   Look Your Audience in the Eye.

The number one mistake performers make is to focus on anything but their audience. Once your song starts, it’s no longer about you. It’s about them. Let them know you appreciate their attention by looking at them, scanning the crowd and smiling as appropriate. It’s a little thing that makes a huge impact.

They’re simple things that so many singers either never do or let go by the wayside when they feel they’ve established a solid fanbase.  But these five things can liteally make you look like a pro by your very next show.

Got your own tips for performing like a pro or stories of a performance gone wrong?  Click ‘leave a comment’ at the top of this post and let us all know.

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