It's not about you

Hey, rock stars. I'm your host, Reggie Daughson. Welcome to Being On Stage, Episode 4. I want to take a moment just to thank everybody that's tuned in so far during our launch. It's been a crazy weekend, and I appreciate all the support and all the love and the reviews. I appreciate the reviews on iTunes. Thank you. Today I want to talk about the audience, or the crowd, or the people that have gathered there to see your art, or to experience your art, or to see you.

Even if you're, you know, your supporters, your fans, anyone who's gathered there to see you. So the first question I want to ask you is, what is the difference? You've got a crowd, you've got an audience. Everyone calls it something different. So what's the difference between a crowd and an audience? What do you want to perform for? Do you want to perform for a crowd, or do you want to perform for an audience?

Everyone wants to perform for their fans, and I'm going to get there. But crowd or audience? Some of you may be scratching your heads going, what do you mean? What's the difference? I don't get it. So there is a distinct difference. So a crowd, and this is directly from dictionary.com, the crowd is a large number of people gathered together. It's a crowd. They're gathered together. Maybe they're there for a certain interest, maybe they're there for a certain reason, but they're gathered together.

An audience is assembled spectators at a public event, such as a play, concert, show, or meeting. So these are spectators. They are there. They are there to watch or experience or take part in some type of event. Your fans, now here's something different. Your fans are people who have a strong interest or admiration for a particular person, group, or thing. So we're talking about three distinct groups of people.

Crowd, audience, fans. A lot of times you are going to start in front of a crowd, just a group of people that are just there. They don't really know. They don't know you. Maybe they don't know why they're there, but it's just a crowd of people gathered. Maybe it's a random crowd. Maybe you're in the supermarket and you turn around a corner and there's 10 people. That's a crowd. If you've never performed in front of people, 10 people is a large number of people.

An audience is assembled there to watch you. Sometimes you have to take that crowd and turn them into your audience, and that is kind of what I want to get into today, is turning your crowd into your audience and then turning your audience into your fans. And that's what being on stage is all about, is providing that engagement and that connection to that crowd so that they are drawn in to you and into your experience, and then they become your audience. There are many times when entertainers get on stage and it's just not there.

There's no connection with the audience. There's no engagement. There's no response. Maybe people are talking. People are talking to each other. They're on their cell phones. They're walking around. They're not really attentive. And a lot of times we tend to throw ourselves little pity parties afterwards. I've done it. I've gone on stage, and I know now that I just didn't give everything that I had.

I kind of just went through the motions of doing the show because I was paid to do the show, but it just wasn't there. And so at the end of the show, and I've heard so many performers do this, the audience is dead. They're just not feeling it tonight. We ask ourselves, well, why don't they like me? They don't like me. They don't like what I'm doing. This audience is dead. We're blaming it all on the audience, but I don't believe that for a second.

That audience, if they are there to watch a show, I'm not talking about an audience, not a crowd. Like a crowd, you have to work to turn a crowd into an audience, and I'm going to get into that too because this kind of goes in the same. So it's, you know, why aren't they watching me or why don't they like me? So if you can't turn the crowd into your audience, if you can't turn them and, you know, bring their attention in, and if your audience just isn't responding to you, we ask, why don't they like me?

What have I done wrong? But that's the question we never ask. We never ask ourselves, what have I done wrong? It's, why don't they like me? But the question is not about why aren't they into it. The question is, what can I have done more to get that response, to elicit that reaction that I'm seeking? I believe that you have to work just a little harder when you're on stage. Because here's the thing.

Here's the deal. When you step on stage, it is not about you. It is about the audience. Because here's, and here's the part that's really going to, really going to hurt. The audience didn't pay to see you. They didn't pay to come listen to your music. They didn't pay to watch you dance. They didn't pay to hear your jokes. They didn't pay to hear you speak. They paid to experience you. That is the deal.

That is the reason people go to live events and to live shows in any capacity, whether it be, you know, maybe they're going to see a band. Maybe they're going to see a musician. Maybe they're going to see a dancer. Maybe they're going to see, you know, maybe you're going to see a drag queen. The point is, the reason people go to live shows is to have an experience. So it is your job when you step on stage to provide that experience.

So your art, like what you do and what you like to do. You love to sing. You love to dance. You love to play the guitar. Your art, that's personal. I'm not talking about what you do. I am literally talking about the moment you step on stage, it is no longer about you. It is about how your audience can experience your art. So you have got to provide an experience when you step on stage. And how do you do that?

Well, put your emotion into your shows. Have that confidence, you know. Give them energy. Make eye contact. Point at them. Like, simple things like this. Stage presence is what it's called. That's the, you know, technical term. Stage presence. But there's a lot of things that go into stage presence. Little things. Pointing at them. Looking in certain directions. Expressing emotion on your face.

Moving around the stage. Walking. You know, walking in a certain beat. So, you know, if you're dancing or even singing. Walking to a certain beat. Genuinely being into your own show. All of these things. Give your audience an experience. And all these things, I'm going to have, believe me. These are all things I'm going to get into much deeper. But we're still at the beginning, folks. This is just scratching the surface.

Kind of expressing what we're going to get into. And why. And the audience is a big reason why. You have to provide. That's why you have to provide an experience. Listen, if they wanted to hear you sing, they could download you on iTunes. If they wanted to see you dance, they could watch a video. They want to experience your art. One thing that. Here's the thing. Yeah, people can watch YouTube videos.

You can have a virtual reality experience. And you can hear an amazing album with, you know, 6.7 surround sound or wherever we're at. And I think we're at like 20.2 now. Surround sound with, you know, 6K television and all this stuff. But one thing technology cannot create. It cannot create this for you in any capacity. Technology cannot create that energy that you feel at a live event.

Technology can't create that emotion or that engagement or the connection. You can't feel that through technology. So if you have that opportunity to get on stage in front of real live people that are there to witness you real and live. You have the obligation to provide them an experience. That's how you. That's how you turn your crowd into your audience. That's how you turn your audience into your fans.

You are more likely to gain fans and gain followers and just gain people that genuinely are interested in what you have by giving them an experience. Nobody wants to watch something or listen to something. They want to experience something. They want to feel something. Like we're talking about some seriously primal stuff. Like this is not new. It is human. Just it's the way we are wired is to experience things, to feel things, to have energy, to, you know, give and take energy back and forth between other human beings to have these connections.

And especially when we're when we want to be entertained. That's how we're wired. That's just how humans are wired. So when you step on that stage, that given that take of energy that you'll have between you and your audience and that connection. That you can provide and that you can. It's the littlest things that you can do to make these connections. That is what makes people amazing entertainers.

That is what makes people grow their audience and what gets you booked at better gigs and what gets you. I mean, quite honestly, what gets you paid more? And this is truly what makes it possible for people to be able to do what they love for a living. That's it. That ability to turn your audience. into fans because ultimately your fans are going to be the ones that support you when you sell your album.

Your fans are going to be the one that spread the word about you. When you give them that experience, you're giving them love, you're giving them connection, you're giving them energy, and they will spread it as well. We're going to get into all these methods that I've talked about. We're going to get into facial expressions. We're going to get into movement and timing and all of these things.

We're going to get into a whole lot. So please keep listening. Hit the subscribe button on iTunes. We're on iTunes. We're on Stitcher. Just go ahead and hit the subscribe button. Shoot me an email if you have any questions. Email's free. We can talk back and forth. That's no charge. Shoot me an email, reggie at beingonstage.com. If you like what you hear, go ahead and drop a review on iTunes.

I'd love to hear what you have to say. And you know what? Thanks for listening. Again, I truly, truly thank you for listening. Remember always, always keep on shining.