Be the Performer You Want to Watch

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, hey, rock stars. What's going on? You're a host of the Being On Stage podcast. I am Reggie Dawson. Thanks for tuning in. I appreciate that. First and foremost, I want to give a big ol' shout out to a recent call I had with Rebecca. I mentioned her on the last podcast. We had a second call, actually, and she's got a big show coming up this week. So I just want to ask all my podcast listeners, please, please, please send all your positive vibes and prayers to Rebecca. She's going to crush it. On stage, absolutely be amazing. And one thing, and actually, she's kind of inspired this podcast. Sorry to embarrass you, Rebecca, but you inspired yet another podcast. We were talking about recording your performances. And first of all, you should record your rehearsals as well. It's the one thing you're going to, it's how you're going to learn from yourself, really, and how you're going to grow. And what I've noticed, and not just with her, I can't throw her completely under the bus. I used to be the same way. You're probably the same way. Hundreds of performers out there have the same issue. And that is, sometimes, and when I say sometimes, it's probably more like most times, we dread going back and watching those videos. Whether it's a performance or rehearsal, there's just that fear of, I don't want to watch. And not even a fear, it's more just like a stubbornness, if you will, of, I don't want to watch it. I don't want to see it. It just, it was terrible. I don't want to watch it. I don't want to see my mistakes. I don't want to see my failures. I don't want to see the lack of applause. I don't want to see what I look like. I just, I don't want to watch it. And keeping to my blunt manner, as you should be used to by now, that is a huge mistake. And more than a mistake, it's damaging to yourself to have those thoughts. And for, I mean. Let's be real. When you're having those thoughts of dreading watching a video of yourself doing the thing that you love, those negative thoughts that roll through your head as you're prepping to watch the video, you've already set yourself up to hate it. Like, you've already set yourself up to pick out the mistakes, to pick out the negative qualities of the performance. You're setting yourself up that way. Just from that dread, that dislike, or just. The pain, even, of watching your own video. And if we work together, by the way, be prepared. Because I make you watch all your videos. More than once, usually. That's how you learn. That's how you grow. You go back. You watch your performances. Yes, you're going to see some opportunities where you could have done things differently, a little bit better. But you're also going to see points in the song where you made that audience connection. You had those facial expressions. You expressed that emotion and that energy perfectly. You're going to find things in your show that you absolutely love seeing yourself do. And it goes well with those opportunities. So you take the good things, you take the opportunities, and you turn those into more good things. And so the process continues. So every time, you're improving and you're growing on a really, really solid foundation. So why are you setting yourself up for that negative watching or viewing experience? And, oh, I mentioned working together. If you'd like to. If you'd like to work together, you can jump on a free 30-minute call with me. Hop on my calendar, beingonstage.com slash calendar. And I'll just call you at the date and time you're choosing, and we will chat it up. Work on what you're going through. Get you a solid plan. Give you some things to set in motion and get you moving forward to that performer that you see yourself being. That performer that you envision when you close your eyes and go to sleep at night. That person. That person. That person's who I can help you become. Yes, you can. Listen, you can absolutely do it yourself. But if you want to get there faster and you want to have someone hold you accountable and give you that boost that you need, hop on the calendar, guys. Really, let's work together. So back to watching videos. You know, one of the things that I want to make sure that every person that listens to this podcast hears. Okay, so pay very close attention. If you never listen to another episode of Being Onstage. Again, which I want you to. I really do. You can click subscribe and make sure you do. But if you never listen to another episode again, please hear this. If you want to get rid of that fear of watching yourself, you have to become the performer that you want to watch. You have to make the performance that you want to see. The mood, honestly, the mood of watching your performance on video should be. I can't wait to see this. This was so great. I love the fact. I love everything about performing. I love that. I love that. I love it. It was great. Even when there are mistakes, there should still be a part of you that looks forward to seeing that video because you're the performer that you envision. And how you become that performer, how you step into that role that you want to play. There's two ways to do it. There's the quick way and the slow way. The slow way is working on yourself, building up your confidence, honing on your talent, rehearsing time and time again, slowly adding new things into your performances, new movements, new choreography, new personality, new energy. Then there's the fast way. And the fast way, I prefer the fast way. You should too. The fast way is literally just become that performer. It doesn't matter what anyone else. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It doesn't matter their opinions of you. Yes, when you're on stage, it's all about the audience because you've got to make the connection. You've got to bring the energy. You've got to make them feel what you're putting out, if you know what I mean, if you're going to progress in your career. But when we talk about opinions and we talk about specifically negative opinions, who cares? Negative opinions come from people that wish they could do what you do. Okay? So you don't even need to put any thought, effort, or mind or anything into negative opinions. Negative opinions that people have of you. It doesn't matter, even if it's your mother. If she's got a negative opinion of your performing, it doesn't matter. Period. But all you have to do is just step into being that performer that you want to be. That performer that you want to watch. When you pick up the video, when you pick up your phone or your tablet or, hey, if you actually got to watch on a computer or if you're real old school, if you got to pick up the camcorder, and watch the video, your thoughts shouldn't be that of dread or fear or uneasiness. It should be excitement and yearning for growth. And how you get that feeling, how you change that feeling, it's not, this is, I say it's a lot about mindset, but this part's actually not all mindset. This has to do with what you actually put out on stage. One of the reasons that you're nervous about watching that video, is because you know for a fact that you did not give 100% on that stage. You did not give everything that you could have given. You held back. Whatever the reason, it could be a bit of stage fright, performance anxiety, maybe you're not feeling good, maybe you're in pain. Whatever the reason, you held back. Because if you didn't hold back, if you let it all out on stage and you left your legacy out there like I teach you to do, you have no reason. You have no reason to fear watching the video, no matter how your performance turned out. Keep that in mind. So as you step on stage, as you get ready for your next performance, be that performer that you want to watch. Yeah, there'll be mistakes, you may even fall on your ass, truthfully. But you will be the performer that you want to be, instead of a shell of the performer that you want to be. And that's a dangerous place to be, is being that shell of a performer that you want to be, is being that shell of a performer. And that's a dangerous place to be, is being that shell of a performer. You gotta step in. into that role man you you can't live your life dreaming about it and thinking about it you got to take one foot slap it right down in front of the other and step your ass into the role that you want to play as a performer that's it that's the that's the bottom line so again if you remember nothing else and you never listen to another podcast because you think i'm maybe you don't like me and that's okay you know i like i said negative opinions not a problem in the world if you never listen to another podcast again and this is the only one you tune into just remember that step into the performer that you want to be be the performer that you want to watch hop on my calendar and i can help get you there again it's beingonstage.com slash calendar and as always for god's sake keep on shining