Stage Presence Basic Training
When I went through army basic training one of the exercises was to enter an enclosed room and get “gassed” (tear gas unfortunately). After entering the room and doing several drills with our pro-mask (gas-mask) we were finally told to take it off, breathe deeply, while standing at attention, and stare directly at the drill sergeants behind the protective glass. We would then be excused. There were ten of us in that room and we were told, in no uncertain terms, that not one of us would be excused until all ten of us were staring directly at them. As I stood at attention straining to keep my eyes open I attempted to take a breath but could not. It was as if I had been kicked in the stomach and had the wind knocked completely out of me, so I began raising and lowering my chest to fake my breathing. The seconds were slowly ticking by, as the sergeants were laughing and guffawing at us behind the protective glass. Then, just before we were to be released, the guy next to me began doubling over and nearly hit the floor. With lightning like reflexes I caught him, pulled him back up, and held his head straight toward the DI’s in the booth. We were finally released. I had saved the day, at least for me and the guys I was with. Of course I didn’t have to “waive my own flag”. The sergeants had all seen what happened, the guys I was with knew what happened. All I had to do was work up my best “Clint Eastwood” voice and start practicing phrases like; “I did what I had to do” or “The training just took over”…then I watched the video tape of it.
First off I looked way less cool (as in, “not at all”) then I remember, more like a fish wriggling around out of water. Instead of the proud soldier, standing at attention, staring down the drill sergeants and daring them, by my calm demeanor, to leave me in the “tank” as long as they wanted. I was more like the “little school boy” with his knocked knees and desperate eyes saying, “Oh please, oh please, oh please let me out”. In the video the guy next to me, I had thought had nearly collapsed, had more like, slightly bowed, and as he was bringing himself up to attention instead of the “Rambo” reaction I thought I had, I merely began flicking the side of his leg as if to shoe a fly off it. I’m not really sure if he had even felt it.
What was going on in my head and what was actually happening on the “stage of life” were obviously two different realities. What we feel we’re projecting when we’re performing and what the audience is seeing can be just as dramatic.
Stage Presence
There’s a ton of great songs within this group. When we perform, we should have a stage presence that conveys this. There’s a lot of professional tips on-line. Go ahead and do a search…
…but in the meantime here are a few pointers from what I’ve noticed:
1. Keep your eyes open
Get out of your own head and join the show. It almost looks like you don’t want to be with us when you keep your eyes closed.
2. Smile more
Unless it’s part of your act not to, be sure to smile. You look better, people like you more, and the music gods will bless you.
3. Look at the audience
They came to watch you, you should watch them back. If you invited somebody to your house, and didn’t look at them the whole time they were there, that would be really weird. This also builds on the first step “Keep your eyes open”.
4. Convey the emotion of the song
When you perform you should convey the emotion of whatever song your singing, happy, sad, mad, bored, depressed etc. with your body and face. From a slight nuance to a mournful wail…it helps us know you mean what you’re singing.
5. Don’t read your music off a music stand, it looks really stupid
If you need to read them you haven’t practiced enough. If it doesn’t matter how much you practice and you still need to read them then hide them somewhere. e.g. on the back of a monitor or speaker, on the floor, invest in a teleprompter, anything…just loose the stand. Some people seem to get away with it but you don’t want the audience’s forgiveness, you want their admiration.
*On a side note; If you’re playing in front of members at the general meeting that’s fine, we all understand, but if you’re performing at a show…don’t do it.
6. Watch your favorite bands perform live and see what they do
It’s possible they go into a mesmerized state and stay there for their entire show but it’s more likely they are making some obvious connection with the audience and almost a suckers bet that they did not get to where they are playing as stage zombies (except for that famous band “The Stage Zombies”)
7. Practice in the mirror, shoot video or both
You practice your guitar, your voice, your songwriting…time to practice your stage presence. If your planning to have pictures taken, which should be a given, they always look better if your eyes are open (at least most of the time), you’re smiling (at least some of the time), and whatever song your singing looks as if your conveying the emotion of the song with your face, posture, etc. anywhere from slight nuances to extreme tantrum like behavior.
So Anyway…
…keep practicing in the mirror, honing your performance, watching what works for you in other performers and “borrowing” their moves. Sure you want the audience connection to be natural. As natural as say…your guitar playing, or singing? Which most performers practice for years.
Many of the writers in this group are good to great songwriters. Many of us are bad to decent performers. If you are performing your good to great music you should have an act that does justice to your songs.
Work on that stage presence.