Fake it Til You Make it...Real

SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! Welcome to Being On Stage, the only podcast that gives you motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage. No matter how you entertain, sing, dance, band, comedian, public speaking, MC, drag, burlesque, performance art, or street performer, this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, what's going on? It is your host, Reggie Daughson, with the Being On Stage podcast.

Earlier this week, I recorded an episode in which I talked about connecting with your audience through emotions and facial expressions and body movements and knowing your material and being into your material and, you know, spending time planning the moments that you want a reaction for the audience. Now, one of the things that I mentioned is being into your show. Being into your material, feeling it on stage, being passionate about it. I said, you have got to be passionate in every moment that you're on that stage.

One of the things that I realized over the last few days is sometimes that can be insanely difficult. We all go through things in life. You know, we're not just performers. We're mothers, we're fathers, we're friends, you know, we're sons, we're daughters, aunts and uncles, and, you know, sometimes we're bosses and employees. So we're not always just performers. There's a whole lot of other stuff going on in our lives.

So sometimes it's really difficult to connect and feel and be passionate about what we're doing in that moment. So one of the things I want to talk about today, and not a lot of people talk about it, but I think we've all done it. We've all been there. And that is when you're lacking that connection, when you don't have that passion in the moment, how do you connect with something that you're just not?

Feeling in that moment, even if it's not your own material, even if it is your own material, how do you connect with something that you don't connect to? I'm not saying you never connected to it. I'm saying in that moment, you're just not feeling it, but you have to continue with the show. You've been booked. You've been paid. You know, you've had a down payment or something like that, or maybe you're getting paid.

You're already there, but there's something going on in your life. That's just preventing you. From being able to be passionate in that moment. And you're just kind of there because, you know, you have to be there. And every performer that goes through this, whether you get paid millions of dollars or if you perform for free on an amateur open mic night, no matter how you perform or where or whether you get paid or not, everybody has a night when they feel like, I just don't, I just don't feel this right now.

What do you do in that instance when you're going through that, when you're feeling like you don't feel it? You have to fake it. I know I've also made an episode about being authentic. We want you to be real. We want you to be authentic, but you also have an audience to entertain. And sometimes you have to just be in that moment and understand that your audience is waiting for you and wanting you and needing you to provide them with entertainment and provide them and show them and share your gifts with them.

They need it. They crave it. That's why they're there. So if you're not. Feeling your material, you're not having that passion in that moment. I've been there. I've had so much go on in my life. It's just it's crazy. But I've been there. There was a time when I was entertaining and I've I mentioned this one of my former podcast. So I've been with my girlfriend now for nine years. We actually spent five years apart.

And in the middle of her leaving Florida to go be in Massachusetts with her family. I was. In the prime of my entertainment. I was at the top of my game. It was my prime. And now, you know, the reason she left has nothing to do with me entertaining. It had to do with some personal financial issues we were having. And with a child in the mix, you really don't want to leave anything to chance.

So they went to be with my girlfriend's family. And now that they're back, I mean, we're we're solid. We're on track now. But in the moment when they were leaving, like we're talking, we'd already been together for a year and a half. This was my family. This was. You know, the life. And I'm in the prime of my entertaining. And maybe like two days after they left, I had a show I had to do.

I definitely was not in the mood to do it. I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't connecting with it. The whole night actually is a blur. I go back and watch the videos and I'm just like, I don't remember it happening because I put everything on hold. And I stood on that stage in the moment and I knew that I had a job to do. So I faked it. I faked my energy. I faked my passion. And the funny thing about it is.

So there's there's a phrase and I swear to God, I hate I hate this phrase. At least I did. But I put my own spin on it. A lot of people have heard it's called fake it till you make it. Now, my spin on it and I have a new meaning of it. And it's fake it till you make it real. That means if you get on stage and you have to start out faking a little bit of energy, faking a little bit of, you know, confidence, even you have to fake it within a few minutes.

You're not going to make it. You're not going to be faking it anymore because the natural instincts of the performer that is inside you, the natural gifts that you have, it's going to take over your body and completely wash over you and you're going to put on an amazing show. But you have to be in the moment in order to do that. You have to be in that moment on stage. And sometimes it takes faking the confidence.

Sometimes it takes faking, you know, the energy. But once you get moving, once you take that step. And you push yourself beyond what you believe your limits are, the show will end up amazing. And yes, life will be waiting for you at the end. You will still have everything else that you have to deal with. But that's going to be the case regardless. So you can either put on a great show and deal with life afterwards.

Or you can put on a crappy show or cancel your show and deal with life afterwards. The result is still the same. You're still going to have to deal with what you're dealing with. But we are entertainers, which means we need to entertain. And when we step on that stage, that is our job. You don't think about it. Just get out there and do it. Fake it until it becomes real. I used to have a mantra that I would do before I would go on stage.

Especially in times when I really wasn't feeling it. And actually, really only in times when I really wasn't feeling it. Otherwise, I just, I was so excited to get on stage. It was not even. It was crazy. But when times when I just wasn't in the mood or I lacked the passion to be in that moment, to be on the stage, I would say to myself, you know what? It is your time. This is your stage.

This is your audience. It is your time. You've worked for this. You've rehearsed for this. And you are going to be amazing. And I would say this to myself over and over and over again. And you can make any mantra that you want. It has to. It has to have something to do with building yourself up, realizing this is your time. This is your stage. You have earned it and worked for this. And you need to be in that moment and put yourself in that moment.

Emotionally, physically, psychologically, physiologically. You have to be 100% in the moment in order to deliver on stage. And that's what you want to do. You have to deliver to your audience. Fake it. Until you make it real. One of the ways that you are able to do this. Sorry, my cell phone is going off in the background. But one of the ways that you are able to fake it or you're able to let the moment wash over you is to have a persona.

Have a stage persona that you become the minute you step on that stage. You have to become the person that your audience needs you to be. And that's your persona. I'm going to do an episode on developing a stage persona. And things to think about and everything. But in the meantime, that's your assignment for this episode. Think about what person you need to be on stage to entertain your audience.

Think about the person that you want to be on stage for that matter. We'll go over the questions that you need to answer and everything like that. But think about it. If you could be anybody on stage. Not somebody that already exists. Like I'm not saying if I could be anybody, I'd be Adam Levine on stage. No. I'm not somebody that exists. You think about you. You as a person, who do you want to be on stage?

And I'd love to hear about it. I'd love you to describe your persona to me. You can hit me up on social media. We are on Facebook. Just search being on stage. It's actually facebook.com slash being on the stage. We're also on Instagram and Twitter at being on stage. A couple of announcements, actually. Reminder, I said this earlier this week. Send me an email. Reggie at being on stage. And in the subject line put free book, I actually have an e-book that I'm in the process of writing.

It's coming out around the end of February. It's going to be all about getting past stage fright and the tips and the tricks that I've used to get through the three different types of stage fright. There's even some bonus information that I haven't discussed on the podcast and I will not be discussing on the podcast anytime soon. So you definitely want to grab that free e-book. Email me Reggie at being on stage dot com.

There's a new website being built. So if you're interested in being on stage, you can go to the website. If you try to go to beingonstage.com right now, I don't know what you're to see because we're in the process of building a new one. I haven't tested it out yet. I just wanted to hop on here and record this while I was thinking about it. Also, I have my training program being designed, built, and it is the Mic Drop Method.

We're going to have a Facebook group, some training with me, and some special access and some special materials going in there as well. So you will definitely want to stay tuned. There is lots happening with the Being On Stage podcast, folks. We're just scratching the surface. So get in the mood. Get yourself there. Get on that stage and make something happen for yourself. Leave your legacy on stage, and rock stars, please keep on shining.