Speaker 1Shut 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,
Speaker 2this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, Reggie Dawson, host of the Being On Stage podcast here. Welcome back, I appreciate you tuning in. We keep getting closer and closer and closer to episode 50, and I am excited. I'm going to be giving you the secret to a successful performance in episode 50, so if you have not done so, make sure you are subscribed to this podcast. If you want to go on iTunes and subscribe, I can make it easy for you, beingonstage.com slash iTunes. Once you're in iTunes, if you could also please rate my podcast. Hit subscribe and leave a comment while you're at it. It helps other people find the show, so it would really help them. It's not really about helping me, it's more about helping them, because I'm about helping you. I want you to perform any chance you get. You should want to perform any chance you get. It's something that we love. It's something that's a part of us. Why aren't we actively performing every single solitary chance that we get? Why are we holding ourselves back? This is especially true if you're just starting out. Just starting out could mean anything from, I started yesterday, to I've been practicing for three years and now I'm finally ready to put my act in front of a crowd. When you're ready to get out there in front of that audience, you need to do so as much and as often as you can. Take advantage of every reasonable opportunity. And I say reasonable because, listen, there's going to be some opportunities. There's going to be some opportunities out there that just seems like it is someone just trying to take advantage of you, and I get it. But truthfully, if it seems like a reasonable opportunity and it seems like you could at least gain one fan, or if you at least would have fun, you need to do it. Performing is a gift. And when you are given the gift and the opportunity to perform, you've got to take it. You have to get out there on that stage every single chance that you get. You can start so broad performing. You can start performing at so many different places. There's so much opportunity out there. You just have to go look for it. You can't always sit around and wait for people to come to you. Sometimes you've got to go out there and find it. But why are we sitting around passing up opportunities, not hunting for what we want? We should be out on stage, not sitting on the couch. If you are sitting on a couch listening to this podcast, or if you're driving to work listening to this podcast, if you haven't performed in, let's go three months. If it's been three months since you've performed, why? Is it because you're waiting for a phone call or an email for someone to book you? Why? Why are we waiting for other people? We are artists. We've always done our own things. We're creative. We need to think of ways to get out there. You should be performing at least once a week. And listen, a performance doesn't always have to be in front of a crowd. A performance can be a performance on video. A performance can be. Busking on the street. A performance can be an open mic night at the local pub. It doesn't have to be something that you get paid $300 to stand on stage for 10 minutes. Although, that would be great. We get so wrapped up in how much money we're going to make, and how far we're going to travel, and how many different places we've been at, and who we've worked with, and what our resume looks like, that we forget. The point of what we do is to share our gifts with people. We need to be out there every chance we get. Every opportunity. And sometimes, we've got to create our own opportunities. So, how do you create your own opportunity? Well, Reggie, I'm just waiting for the promoter to call me back. I've left in a couple messages. Why? Move on. Call another one. If they don't call you back, listen. In show business, and this is show business. As soon as you set foot on that stage, you're putting on a show, and you are a business. So, this is show business. In show business, if you haven't heard, you've heard, the answer is no. Move on. Move on. It's okay to get no's. You're going to get so many no's. It's not even funny. If you get turned off and depressed about a no as a performer, dust yourself off, pick your chin up, buttercup, and move the hell on. You're going to get no's. People are going to say no. Doors are going to slam in your face. Crowds are going to be silent at the end of your set. It's going to happen. You've got to be able to move on. You've got to be able to push forward, and you've got to be able to keep performing, because your gifts deserve to be out there. I spoke. I spoke about this in the last episode when I said anyone can perform. The reason anyone can perform is because everybody needs to put something out there into this world. Everybody needs to leave their creative mark on this planet. It's no secret. The arts are dying. We have to create our own opportunities, because as nice as video is, and yes, I know I just said a video can be a performance, but as nice as video is, and as great as it is, you don't get the same connection as you do when you're performing live. You don't get the same energy as you do when you're performing in front of a live audience. You can use video for the sake of staying sharp, staying fresh, making sure your fans see something, hyping up for an upcoming show. Yes, great, video. Use it for small little hit performances to promote your next show, but get on stage. I mentioned busking on the street. Look at these people in New York City. Did you know literally thousands of people perform in New York City every single day, and 90% of them don't? Are not on Broadway, and not in a theater, and not on a stage. They're in Central Park. They're in Times Square. They're dressed up like idiots. They're standing there like statues. People are doing everything on stage. They're creating their own stage, but they are very much on a stage. Why aren't you? Why aren't you finding a way to perform every single chance you get? Listen, I know how you feel. It's scary. I went through it. I literally went through it. I literally did not go on stage for 14 months. Why? A couple different reasons. Well, excuses. Let's be real. One, I got into a bad mood about it, and I figured if they want me, they'll call me. I didn't go looking for bookings. I didn't bother calling other bars because I didn't think my talent would fit with their bar. I didn't think I could make it work with their bar. Truthfully, I may have been right. Lip sync art is a very tough gig to sell with to a bar that books live bands. Lip sync art is very tough to sell to. You know, a bar that books, you know, poetry and, you know, acoustic and stuff like that. It's very hard to sell. So what did I do? I created something new. I created this. One, I created a podcast. This is my stage now. This podcast, my stage. For you. This is me sharing my talents with the world on my stage. I also started doing live videos at events. I'm working on becoming an emcee. I'm changing what I do because I need to be on stage. A true performer needs to be on stage. It's not. It's not a desire. It is a need. We are not ourselves if we are not performing. And for the longest time, for that entire 14-month period that I was not on stage and not in front of people and not putting my gifts out there, I was miserable. I almost lost my job because I was so distracted with how I was going to make money and how I was going to do e-commerce and how I was going to, you know, keep my relationship alive. And I tried to do all these things and the secret, the thing that I actually did was I actually needed to do, I just needed to get back on stage. I needed to find a way to perform. And so do you. If you've ever performed in your life, and it's been months, years, decades since you've been on stage, do you miss it? How much do you miss it? Tons, right? You ever sit there in silence and just kind of stare off into the distance and think, man, I was really somebody. I could have been great. I should have been great. I should have done more. It's not too late. You can still do more. Listen, all it takes is a little bit of action, a couple of phone calls, a couple of emails. Maybe you need to network with some people. Get yourself out there. You need to perform. You are not going to be okay. You are not going to be happy unless you figure out a way to get yourself on stage. You, my friend, are a performer. Get out of your own way. Perform, perform, perform. There are so many different ways that you can find bookings nowadays, especially with the internet. There are so many ways. Just go on Facebook and go to the events section, and you'll see all these events, festivals, fairs. They're looking to book all types of different talent. Open mic nights, talent nights. Hello, you have a talent. There's a night for you. There's so many different things you can do. You have to be able to contact people. And if there is no open mic night, and there is no festival, and there is no fair, why aren't you calling places? Look up different bars and venues in your area and see what kind of stuff they have going on. Try to mix and match it. Go out there and talk to somebody. Say, hey, I want to know how I can get involved and do we get on that stage. So what if they say no? You've heard no before, right? We all have heard no before. And if we haven't heard it, we sure as hell have gotten the message when they didn't respond. You have to perform. It's a part of you. You can't keep holding yourself back. You got to perform every chance you get. And you can't turn your nose up at bookings because you don't like the atmosphere or the pay or the people. You got to get out there. You have to stay out there. Who knows what this is going to bring? Who knows what will happen if you make that next phone call? Well, I know what will happen if you don't. You're going to be sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day. Get out there, keep performing, and perform every single opportunity that you get. And if there's not an opportunity to perform, make one. Keep shining.
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