Effective Stage Presence for the Open Mic and Beyond
Catching The Audience's Attention

By Spook Handy (more articles from this author) 2003-10-06

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Vol. I, No. 2

This series of articles is written with the beginner and intermediate level performer in mind. It is also written primarily for musicians that play instruments and sing during their performance. However, with a little imagination these principles can be applied to public speaking, teaching or reading poetry. These suggestions are by no means original. Many of them come from more seasoned performers of music and other arts who I site whenever possible

Catching the Audience’s Eyes

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One of the most effective ways of catching the audience’s attention is through the use of dynamics. This issue was discussed in an earlier article. In this article we will discuss some other ways to get the audience to pay more attention to your performance.

The other night at Tumulty’s Open Mic in New Brunswick, New Jersey, I saw many acts and two of them caught my eye for visual reasons. One was the duo of Dan Zalika and Jordan Brewster. Dan played electric guitar and Jordan played hand drums. Both sang. What caught me about them was that they were totally into the music they were playing. This is a good time to examine the slang term “into.” These guys were “into” the music because they had immersed themselves into it to the point of allowing their whole bodies, emotions and consciousness to become expressions of the music. The music enveloped their entire beingness and they were hence “into” the music. This term can also describe the feelings some listeners get.

Dan and Jordan’s being into their music was quite Zenish in the sense that they seemed to become the song itself. Dan played upbeat rhythms on his guitar and his body rocked and rolled back and forth as he played and sang. During more intense musical parts of the song, the swaying and rocking was appropriately more dynamic. During down parts or when singing there was a little less body movement.

The other performer who caught my attention visually was Ken Trotta. Ken’s use of dynamics made his performance sound great. But, he also used his body to enhance the visual aspect of his performance. He made arm gestures and facial expressions while introducing songs and in songs where he had stops or wasn’t playing his instrument he pointed at the audience or raised his arms to beckon audience participation.

How much attention do visual aspects deserve?

Both the duo and Ken used these visual elements to the extent dictated by the music. I personally like this approach being a songwriter who wants to showcase his songs. Hence, I let the songs inform the degree of body dynamics. But, others may want to make their acts more theatrical. And most performers are somewhere between the two extremes. Either way, ask yourself how important visual aspects are and how far to go with them. The clothing you wear – or, in the case of the myriad contemporary blonde female pop stars, the lack there of – is another consideration. So are the stage settings and whether or not you want to choreograph the performance.

The answer to all of these questions can be found by clearly knowing the goal of your performance. Are you primarily and songwriter/performer, an entertainer, a little of both or something else. Knowing this will help you find the appropriate degrees to which you should incorporate visual elements into your performance. But, remember that good music can be ignored because the performance lacks visual appeal and not so good musical performances can become a lot more fun if they look good.

For more information on Spook Handy, click on his name, above. E-mail any comments, suggestions or questions you would like to see addressed in these articles to SpookHandy@aol.com. Be sure to include your name, where you live and a little info about your experience with stage performance. All correspondences will become the property of Spook Handy and may be used in future publications.

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