How to delight your audience!

Hi there,

Are you a performing artist who finds it difficult to talk to your audience? Do you feel awkward, or a bit shy and don't know what to say in between your songs, or how to introduce yourself? Is it that you feel happy singing or playing your songs, but you are nervous of saying something stupid or making a fool of yourself when speaking at your gig? If so, you are not alone - it is one of the major issues that comes up when working with my clients.

Having been to a lot of gigs recently, I have been observing how each band or solo artist has interacted with their audiences and it has become obvious how much more enjoyable the gig is when this interaction is done well!

This was particularly highlighted when I went to see James Morrison at Leicester earlier this month. His support act was a guy called Newton Faulkner (www.myspace.com/newtonfaulkner), he came on stage and instantly had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand - his banter and instant rapport was almost startling - whether he has a natural talent for this or whether he has practiced it to perfection, I don't know - maybe it's a bit of both - whichever, the effect was amazing. In contrast to Newton, James Morrison's audience interaction was not so radiant - but he had a hard act to follow!

I also went to a gig where 5 unsigned bands played. One band stood out - not just for their music, which was great, but because once more their interaction with the audience was so much fun.

Of course Robbie Williams is a master of stage presence and his showmanship is only second to that of Freddie Mercury - the ultimate showman in my opinion!

As a result it has become very clear to me that not only is it necessary for you to write and perform great songs, but to be an all rounded entertainer, if you want to be successful in your music career.

To give another example, years ago, the Bare Naked Ladies used to include a medley of other artists' songs in their set. They would be instantly recognisable because they were current hits, but the band added a twist - they sang their own witty lyrics over those hits, which were usually about the city they were gigging in - this engaged and warmed them to their audiences. I notice that they are on tour at the moment, so they are well worth checking out if you can get tickets!

You too can engage and have fun interacting with your audiences, how? Carry on reading…!

Tip 1 - Create great material - for your interaction with your audiences. You are very creative, so this shouldn't be too difficult for you to do! If it helps, take a blank piece of paper and write a script of what it is you want to say.

Start with an introduction of yourself - picture in your minds eye how your gig will start - will anyone else introduce you onto the stage or will you just walk on? Either way you can walk on and say "Hey Leicester, how're you doing?" make sure you have a big smile on your face and then start playing your first song. A further tip here is make sure you know in which town or city you are playing in - there is nothing worse than saying the wrong place - a cardinal sin of gigging! Being in Sheffield and watching The Fall say, "hello Nottingham", didn't go down well and they lost us as an audience from the start!

If you are an artist or a band supporting another act, after you've finished playing your first song, you could make sure that the audience know who you are - quite often audiences don't know in advance who the support acts are going to be, so tell them your name.

Tip 2 - Special ingredients - for your interaction. Having seen hundreds of gigs in my time, the ones that are the most enjoyable have been the ones where the audience interaction has had the following ingredients:

Make what ever you say fun - this means being witty, telling funny stories - make a note when funny things happen to you and share them with your audience.

Do your own rendition of someone else's song - Newton Faulkner did his own rendition of Sponge Bob Square Pants - it was hilarious! (get permission for this if necessary - don't be in breach of any copyright).

Tantalise your audience with a song that you know they like - Newton, again used this tactic with the Square Bob Sponge Pants song - he said something like, "Do you like Square Bob Sponge Pants, well I may play it for you later" The audience went crazy…and kept asking for it whenever they could.

If you are in a band - have some banter with all the band members - don't just leave the audience interaction to the lead singer - in this instance make sure the audience can hear well and don't go into private jokes - the audience won't get it! So you could try some kind of light-hearted mickey-taking of each other, but nothing too personal and make sure you don't actually upset each other!

Some bands like to introduce each individual members and you no doubt have seen them each having a little solo slot with their instruments, during that introduction - you could do this by each playing something funny, but instantly recognisable - such as a TV show theme tune, or a nursery rhyme or a song that everyone knows.

Get an audience to participate in one of your songs - if you can, get them to do some kind of harmonising - to do this you could split the audience into two halves and start one half singing some particular lyrics to a specific tune - once you have got them going, turn to the other half and get them singing the harmony at the same time.

You may want to create specific hand or arm movements that is unique to your band or act or even for one of your songs - Little Man Tate have done this and at a recent gig, everyone in the audience were making the same movements - this is all part of engaging with your audience.

There are countless ways in which you can have fun with your audience - so get your creative juices flowing and work out what you want to do and when, during your set.

Tip 3 - Practice makes perfect. If you are unsure what will work, practice certain bits at a small low-key gig if you can. Or practice on your trusted 'street team' or your family and friends - they will let you know if your banter or other interaction works or not.

A further tip is to make sure that when you do it for real - make it look or sound as spontaneous as you can - your audience will want to feel special - so if it sounds too rehearsed you may lose the fun element of it. So, it's about getting the balance right.

You also need to make sure that you don't mumble - speak clearly so that your audience can hear you - otherwise all your hard work will be to no avail!

I hope this newsletter has been helpful to you, if you have real stage fright and even the thought of going on stage gets you nervous, check out a previous newsletter on my website called Stage Fright Blues, you can see it at: http://www.bravura-group.com/show-newsletter.php?edition=stagefrightblues_may06.html

Of course as ever, if you are struggling and want to contact me for more help, you are very welcome and I always give potential new clients a free complimentary call to see what music career or personal issue you wish to change and how I can help you. I look forward to hearing from you.

So, are you delighting your audience?

With very best wishes,

Bravura Group
helping you brave the music industry

http://www.bravura-group.com

t: 01246 231 249 / 0845 456 460
e: lindsey@bravura-group.com

I work with signed and unsigned artists and personnel working in the Music Industry who want to become more productive, creative and ultimately more successful in their music careers, whilst enjoying a more enriched, fulfilling and balanced personal life.

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