How to Undermine Your Excellent Stage Persona Between Songs

A singer I know got some great feedback recently from a new band member.  He told her that although she was an excellent performer, she was undermining herself between songs.  Here's how:

While singing in this particular band, she takes on the persona of a rockstar-type diva.  She's high-energy and edgy.  She takes risks, both vocally and with her performance.  She rocks out and she gives her all, often ending up nearly out of breath because she's been moving so much.  In short, she has attitude and confidence, and you can see it in her moves and eyes, and hear it in her voice.

BUT... between songs, she sometimes slips a little back into the down-to-earth, modest person she is in "real," offstage life.  Her bandmate said it feels jarring and confusing, and detracts from the power of who she is while she sings.  

Of course it does!

So - Who are you while you sing?  Are you a rockstar?  Are you an earthy singer-songwriter?  A big-band funkmaster?  A diva with attitude?  Whoever you have chosen to be, realize that even if this is not "THE" real you, this is A REAL PART of you.  And the entire time you are on stage, you have to embrace that persona.

If you are a singer-songwriter who believes this doesn't apply to you because you don't put on a persona when you perform, think again.  You are all kinds of different people at different times.  You show one side of yourself while you're grocery shopping and buying gas... Another side of yourself at a job interview... Another side of yourself to your family at the holidays... another side of yourself to your significant other while on vacation... and so on.  

If you choose to be an authentic, heartfelt singer-songwriter while performing, then you need to carry that consistent personality across your set, including between songs.  How jarring would it be if you showed your earthy singer-songwriter self during your songs, but then between songs slipped back into the reserved persona you use to interact with your boss at work?  Or if you let slip a bit of arrogance because you believed that was what the stage called for?

So, if you are a rockstar, be a rockstar - all the time you're on stage, including between songs.  Don't worry about leaving aside the other parts of your personality for a while.  This is your job.

If this isn't natural to you, two of the best things you can do to get comfortable with it are detailed in the e-book available HERE (which you may have received already when you signed up for this newsletter).  These are "Role Play" and "Bring In Your Best Self."  Both require a bit of visualization.  And both may take a little time for you to develop fully, but can also result in immediate changes as well.

Singing is acting, so continue your job as actor until you exit the stage.

---

(c) 2011 Adrienne Osborn

Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado.   For more free articles and tips, visit http://PerformanceHigh.net.

Finding Natural Gestures to Use On Stage

Do you ever feel on stage like you have no idea what to do with your hands and arms?  Do you revert to holding the microphone with both hands, putting a hand in your pocket, or tugging on the edge of your shirt?  If so, this one's for you.

...

When you're nervous on stage, it can feel like you're enclosed in an imaginary box or cage, where it feels uncomfortable and risky to make any gestures that extend boldly outside its confines.  You know you want to stop standing there uncomfortably, your hands feeling like dead weight at the ends of your arms.  But you don't know how to move them.  And the problem is, the moment you start thinking about looking natural, you stop looking natural!

Here's what you can do:

Find videos of a couple of your favorite performers.  Observe the exact gestures they use with their arms and hands.  Try some of the gestures out in the privacy of your bedroom or practice space.  Some will feel weird to you, others will feel more natural.  It's OK.  Everyone's different.

Then, pick just one or two of the most natural gestures to add to your next performance.  (Don't choreograph - just have them in mind.)  When you feel it's the right time, use them.

...

I have found that starting with just one or two ideas of gestures opens the door to all kinds of other natural movements.  The key is in getting started, in breaking through the boundaries of that imaginary box!

---

(c) 2011 Adrienne Osborn

Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado.   For more free articles and tips, visit http://PerformanceHigh.net.

Three Ways to Make Your Song Intros More Powerful

One of my students, singer-songwriter Jaden Carlson, is playing at the Desert Rocks Music Festival this weekend.  She's very comfortable on stage whether talking or singing, but she wanted her song introductions to connect with her audience more powerfully.  So in our last couple of lessons we worked on her song introductions.

The things we worked on are helpful for anyone who introduces their songs with comments or stories, and they're easy concepts to understand.  They are a little harder to actually execute, though.

Three Ways to Make Your Song Intros More Powerful

1) Plan what you're going to say.

Just as the way a joke is delivered makes all the difference as to whether or not it is funny, the way a story is delivered makes all the difference as to whether it's interesting and powerful.

If, like me, you're not a natural storyteller, tell your story to a friend and have them extract the relevant pieces of information from it.  Have them write each element down so that you can put them in order.

First, figure out which element of the story should come last.  It may be a piece of information that puts all the other elements in a new light, it may be a twist of events, it may be something that gives closure to the story.

Then, put the other elements in order.  Number them!  Omit elements that don't contribute to the arc of the story.  You don't have to tell every single detail.  On the other hand, if you have details that help flesh out the context and feeling of the story without taking too much time, they may help contribute to the story's power.  You have to decide.  Don't make your intro too long!  Streamline. 

Practice telling your story in order, over and over until you don't have to think about it.

2) Jump right in to the story.

Instead of starting your intro with "This next song is about...", just jump right into the story. 

For example, instead of "This next song is about this one time that I found out that my friend's dog got run over by a car," say, "My friend called me one day.  He told me his dog had been run over by a car."

3) Slow down.  Give your story space.

I, for one, tend to speak quickly, so this is one I have to consciously think about.  

If you talk quickly over a microphone, people are very unlikely to be able to understand what you say.  In any venue you're likely to have people talking and/or sound bouncing around the room, which makes it harder for people to understand what you're saying, compared to when you talk one-on-one.  Plus, if you're at all nervous on stage, your rate of speech is likely to increase.

Slooooow doooown your words so that the sound waves of your voice coming out the speakers are intelligible to people as they bounce around the room and mix with the sounds of the crowd.

Also, give your story some space.  Say a sentence.  Then pause, perhaps noodle on your instrument, and let a chord ring out.  Say another sentence.  Pause.  Pausing allows the audience to digest what you're saying, and encourages people who aren't listening to start listening.  It draws people in, teasing them, making them wait for the next step in the story.

Practice your song intros just like you practice the songs themselves.  Talking slower than normal doesn't come naturally for most people.  Leaving space between sentences doesn't come naturally either.  And only the naturally talented storytellers among us have the intuitive sense of how to tell a story in a way that makes it most powerful.

---

(c) 2011 Adrienne Osborn

Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado.   For more free articles and tips, visit http://PerformanceHigh.net.