It's All About Audience

Hey Rockstars, welcome back. Being On Stage, your host Reggie Daughson here. It's been a really crazy week for me. I announced last time, I made a couple of announcements. In case you missed it, I'm writing a book. It's all about getting over stage fright. It goes more in depth to the three different kinds of stage fright, as well as has some bonus information in there that I may not discuss on the podcast.

I may keep that under wraps and just in the book. So, my special for those of you that have kind of been with me since the beginning, because we're still getting started here. We're only scratching the surface. Since you're here in the beginning, and even if you're, you know, maybe you're listening to this a year from now, shoot me an email, reggie at beingonstage.com. Put in the subject line, free book.

And when the book is published by the end of February, when the book's published, there'll be an e-book, and I will send you a free copy. Getting into what we're talking today, talking about today, is actually another project that I'm pretty passionate about. And it's a type of training that I'm working on developing, and that is the mic drop method. And when you think about a mic drop, that means, boom, it's over.

There's nothing else to say. You have left it all on the table, and it's done. And that's what your show needs to be. My favorite, favorite quote is, leave your legacy on stage. That means that at the end of the show, at the end of the night, the end of the gig, whatever you want to call it, there's a mic drop. And it may not be a visual mic drop on stage, but there's a mic drop. Your legacy is left on stage.

Mic drop, boom, done. But the mic drop method is entirely focused on developing you as an artist, and developing the connection to the audience. There is no point in being on stage if there is no audience. The audience is the reason you're on that stage. There is no stage without the audience. What is the point of getting on stage without an audience? Yes, do what you're passionate about.

But once you step on that stage, it's all about the crowd. I'm sorry. It's all about the crowd. One thing we can do to create that connection and engage that audience and really, really have that energy flow back and forth between the stage and the audience. And it's a wonderful feeling when you're in the zone and you have that energy flow. It's such a wonderful feeling. Wonderful feeling and quite a rush.

I'm not even kidding. It is a rush. But the little things you can do. You can show your emotion. You can show facial expressions and body movements. And this may sound a little strange, but just generally being into what you're doing. Being passionate about what you're doing on stage. Not just in general, specifically. Maybe you're doing a particular song, a particular dance, a particular routine, a particular speech.

I don't know. A particular jokes, anything you're doing a particular set, you've got to be into what you're doing in that very moment. Yes, you're a passionate singer. Yes, you're a passionate dancer. Yes, you're a passionate drag queen. But are you into what you're doing in every single moment that you're on stage? Because that is the key. Like, that's the ultimate key is generally being into what you're doing.

It's all about timing, all about timing. Like, you have to understand timing is everything. Once you're on stage. And I'm not talking about just in dance. Because, of course, in dance, timing is everything. That's the point of choreography. It's timed movements. But even if you're not a dancer, no matter what you're doing on stage, you have to know it from the inside out, backwards and forwards, so that you can time what you want to happen when.

You can choose the moments that the audience cheers. You can choose the moments that you hush them to a dead silence. You can choose the moments that you don't want to hear. To elicit any reaction that you see in your mind. Any reaction. You can create those moments. You have that control. But you have to plan it. You have to think about it in your head. And you have to really know what you're doing.

Take time to watch yourself. And to study your own performances. Record a performance. Go back. Watch it. Think about athletes. How do athletes get better? What do the coaches do? What do they do with the athletes? They go back. They watch the game over again. You know, they study what we did wrong. What we could have done better. That's how they get the team. That's how they know what to coach.

That's how they know what to work on. So you as an entertainer, on that stage, that's your game. That is your game. You own that stage. You control everything on it and around it. You just don't know it yet. But I'm here to tell you that you do. You own the stage. So if that is your game, and that is your game, and that is your ownership and your time, you should be studying yourself to see where you can improve, what you would do differently.

Just like anything else that you're practicing, you have to watch the game in order to know what to practice, in order to know what to rehearse and what to work on. You have to watch the performance to know what you need to rehearse. Once you have done that, once you know what to rehearse, you can improve your timing. You can take the moments that you want to have more impact and the moments that you want to have certain reactions from the crowd and you can figure out what movements do I need to do?

What facial expressions do I need to have? Where do I need to be on the stage to get that reaction? You can time out everything that you do. Now, don't get me wrong. There is a certain appeal to improvisation when you're on stage and that takes a lot of practice to get that down. That's going to sound weird, like practice improv, but that does create, a little more of a relationship with your audience.

But what I'm talking about specifically today is certain moments in your show or in your song or in your dance or in anything, certain moments that you want a certain reaction from the crowd. Maybe you want to cheer. Maybe you want to hush. Maybe you want whistles. Maybe you want lighters in the sky. Maybe you want hands waving. Whatever you want to happen, if you want them to clap along, whatever you want to happen, you can make it happen by timing out what you're going to do. and when you're going to do it in your show.

Plan your show. Visualize in your head, what do I want it to look like? What do I want to look like on stage? What do I want the audience to do? How do I want them to react to what I'm doing on stage? How do I want them to react at this part of the song? How do I want them to react at this part of the set or on this joke? These are all things that you need to visualize when you are creating your show.

You can, pick the moments that you want to connect with your crowd. So when you visualize your show, so do this with me. If you're driving, don't close your eyes. But if you're not driving, you're sitting or whatever, close your eyes. Visualize yourself on stage. Visualize yourself doing, maybe it's a common, you know, common set of jokes that you tell. Maybe it's a certain song you like to sing or a dance you like to do.

Just visualize for me in your head for a moment. What are you doing on stage? How is the crowd reacting? What are you doing with your body? Where are you on stage? Where are your hands doing? What's your left foot doing? What's your right foot doing? Are you leaning forward? Are you leaning backward? Are you stage left or stage right? You have to know what you're going to do to get the reactions that you want.

What are you doing with your face? I know this sounds like an off-the-wall question. It just came out of left field. But I just thought about it. Like, what are you doing with your face while you're on stage? How are you conveying emotion through facial expression? How are you creating that connection with your audience through facial expression? I am going to do an entire podcast on facial expression.

It is coming up. But these are things that you need to start to think about today. When do you want them to cheer? When do you want them to cry? When do you want them to clap? When do you want them to get excited? When do you want them to go absolutely crazy? Not just at the end, but when? Once you have it timed out, your audience will intuitively, I'm not even kidding, intuitively react the way you want them to without even thinking about it.

They will intuitively do exactly what you want because you know your material. You know your stuff. And you, you have planned it out and you get that reaction that you're seeking. And that is when you will feel the energy start to flow back and forth between you and your audience. Do this one time. Just one time. Pick one moment that you want a certain reaction. And I don't mean I want them to cheer at the end.

No. Pick a lyric or, you know, a move, a certain piece of choreography, a joke, a point in the song, a point in the. I'm trying to think of different types of acts, but pick a point. In your act or in your set or in your show or whatever you call what you do when you get on stage, pick one moment. Maybe it's your favorite moment, but pick one moment. What reaction do you want from the crowd?

What do they have to feel to give you that reaction? And what are you going to do to make them feel it? Where are you going to be on stage? What is your face going to look like? What movements are you going to do? These are the things that I want you to think about when you're planning out your shows. Pick the moment very carefully. There is such a thing as too much. If you do it too much, your audience will stop reacting because it is a form of manipulation and people get tired of being manipulated.

For now, pick one moment. And I would love, love, love, love to hear about it. Have you connected with me on social media? Have you gone on Facebook and typed in being on stage? Have you gone on Instagram or Twitter and looked up at being on stage? Have you sent me that email for your free book yet? Of course not. You just found out about it. Tell me how this podcast has helped you. If you do the things that I do, I want to hear about it.

I want to hear how it felt. I want to know how it worked out. I want to know. Give me some feedback. Hit me up on social media. Shoot me an email and plan your show. Again, you own. You own that stage. When you're on stage, that is your game. That is time for you to keep on shining.