Develop Your Stage Presence

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may contain exerpts included  from articles by Rich Unger, Nightclub Promotions-->
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Dress the part and know what you want to achieve. Details on this page. Don't do led zeppelin in a cowboy hat, and don't do blues in a Kiss costume. And definitely don't look like you just woke up or just left your day job. Audiences want cool, or glamour, or whatever your style of music calls for. It's part of the fantasy. As far as the audience is concerned, this is what you do. Look as if you've always been on stage, and look like you love what you do.

At a local night club, the audience will want fun. And more fun. That's why they came out in the first place. Your performance is the bonus. Get to know what your audience likes and expects. Like it or not, it's advisable to adjust your play list and include mostly standards that everybody knows and remembers and can sing along with. You won't lose credibility and you'll gain respect from your audience. Seasoned audiences will want whatever you got.

Develop your own unique look and style of performing - if you do something natural on stage for fun that gets the crowd whistling and howling.... do it again. Maybe not right away, but do it again. If you get the same reaction, do it more frequently, if it's just temporary insanity and they look at you like you've lost your mind, don't do it again. Especially if it hurts.

Don't ask the audience if they think the sound is too loud. You should be concerned with your sound, but deal with it professionally. Deal with the sound/volume problems before the show.  Deal with audio problems during the show by talking with someone who knows what they're doing. Send a friend into the audience to check the sound if you like. 

Don't bitch on stage. The audience won't know that you're having problems with the drummer or bass player or whoever and whatever. They don't need to know. Knowing just makes you look like a primadonna or look as if you and your bandmates are not happy together. Your audience isn't pro - they would have no clue how to rate your performance aside from the obvious - the sound and whether they're enjoying themselves or not.

Don't turn to stare at a bandmate that screws up a little. Your audience doesn't know as much as you do about music. But they will start to look at you funny if you stare at someone like they messed up.  No one has heard the song as many times as you have, they're not going to catch small mistakes if you don't give them a clue.

Know who the club manager or boss is and follow instructions. Determine before you start playing who is the Voice of God. If it's the manager of the club, keep him happy or  you don't get to come back. Sometimes this is the owner of a club. It might be the booking agent for the venue.  If you can do the sincere and harmless butt-kissing act well enough, you may even get to do more than you want. Free beer, tips, a bonus. Just keep checking with the Head Guy/Woman. Especially if their reputation preceeds them as being bitchy or difficult. Even if you're not going to do exactly what he/she wants, a little sincere lip service goes a long way.

Look at and work the audience, not at your instrument.  And it's way friendlier to the folks who came out to see you.  Look at the other musicians once in a while. Make eye contact with your bandmates and especially the audience.If you look out over a crowd, it seems as if you're looking right at them, and you'll appear as if you're involving the whole crowd. 

Mingling: Getting out to talk and mix with the people of your audiences can win them over. Now that they've met you, they may end up staying longer at your performance than they had planned on. Have a schedule of your upcoming performances you can hand out, or a website address so they can check your playing schedule out online. The better your social skills, the easier time you'll have. 

Start conversations with customers and make them feel good about being there to see you. Don't ignore people when they want to approach you.  Leave your ego at home. We all hate that. And you never know who knows who and who's telling on you the next day. Also good to remember is that if you approach people in your audience, you don't know if they know music or not, you don't know whether they are constant concert go-ers, you don't know nothin'. Treating them like ignorant boobs because they don't have a guitar in their hands is gonna lose you some audience and a lot of respect. They may be part of an organization that can help promote or break your band. They may know the club owners and patrons at other clubs and will most certainly babble if you act like a butt-hole.

Do not ask the following question unless you expect to hear an honest answer. Not everyone is gonna be nice and polite and not want to hurt your feelings. "So what did you think of our performance?" Most of us will tell you like it is if you ask. We won't just come up to you and tell you that we think you stink, but if you ask us and that's what we think, the truth is what you'll hear. In a nice way, of course. This is a risky question for any musician who's opinion of his talents is not exactly the opinion of the general population.  If you do really well, we'll probably come up to you and tell you so, rather than wait for you to ask, if you seem approachable and not aloof. And we'll probably gush with admiration. You are making an even bigger mistake if you discount our opinions as ignorance or as being difficult. Criticism is as good for you as praise, deal with it professionally and objectively.

Sell Us Stuff-If your band has any kind of merchandise, CDs, t-shirts, hats, this is a great time to make a few sales. During your  conversations with your audience, you can tactfully mention the CD that you just finished, or something like that, and this could help make some sales and these folks could recruit more people for your following.

Don't get wasted before your show-The audience usually isn't drunk before you start playing, so you probably shouldn't be, either. If a musician says, "I play better stoned/drunk", he has no clue. They may think they sound better, but it usually just leads to rambling pointless solos and playing too loud. If the show is going great and the audience is getting plastered, you might have a bit of fun, but don't get trashed yourself.