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Episode 89: What Does Your Performance Say to Your Audience?

from The Being On Stage Podcast

10m 36s

Episode 89: What Does Your Performance Say to Your Audience?

In this episode of the Being On Stage podcast, host Reggie Dawson explores what separates good performers from great ones: the ability to tell a story. He argues that regardless of the performance type, whether singing, comedy, dance, juggling, or public speaking, every act communicates something to the audience. Performers must make their performance mean something and provoke thought or feeling, rather than simply showing off skills. Dawson compares a performance to a painting in a museum, where the artist communicates emotions and ideas to viewers. He notes that verbal performers have an easier time communicating directly, but non-verbal artists must use movement, expression, and posture to tell their story. He warns that performances lacking a narrative connection become dry and easy to turn off, potentially driving audiences away from the venue entirely. Using the metaphor of a roller coaster ride, he explains that shows need a build, excitement, slower moments, and a satisfying landing. He encourages performers to share personal emotions, stand for something, or be relatable, and to put a piece of themselves into every show. He invites listeners to email him for help adding meaning to their performances and reminds them to follow the podcast on social media.

Transcription

1814 Words, 10247 Characters

English
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, this is the show for you.
Speaker 2Hey, rock stars, Reggie Dawson here, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. I'm going to open up with a favor. If you could be so kind, could you go into iTunes, or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and could you leave a five-star rating for this show and comment while you're at it? If you don't mind, I'd greatly appreciate it. Everyone looking for a show like this would also greatly appreciate it. Question for you. After I ask you a favor, I'm just going to go ahead and just pose you another question. If I could, you know, I know this guy. What's he all about? Listen, what does your performance say? I mean, when you step on stage, what story or what are you saying to your audience? And if this is the first time that this question is coming to your mind or being asked, then I challenge you to really think about it. And even go back and watch some videos of some old shows and just really think about what is your performance saying? Because here's the thing. As performers, our job is to make it mean something. Yeah, we're there for entertainment. You know, we're there to give people a thrill. But we also have to make it mean something. We have to make it say something. We are communicating with our audience. That is, that's our job. You know, verbally, non-verbally, it doesn't matter what you do on stage. You're communicating something to your audience. If you're not communicating and if you're not telling a story, then. If you're just some people up there singing some songs, or you're just some guy juggling, or you're just some person doing some dance moves, the purpose of a performance is to give the audience something to think about or something to feel. We provoke thought and feelings from the audience. That's our job. That's what we do as performers. Yes, we're artists, but think about, you think about, you know, the classic arts, okay? Fine art. We'll go paintings, okay? You hang a. You hang a painting on the wall at a museum, and people come, and they view the painting, and they have different emotions and different reactions, and they read different things into the painting. There's something in that painting that's communicating to the viewer. Your performance is your painting. That is your art. You're communicating something to your audience, to your viewer. Now, I'll be honest. You know, if you. If your show involves verbal, verbal activities, singing, comedian, some magician, speakers, you're communicating verbally. So it's a little easier for you, but you should still keep in mind. Now, listen, if you didn't tune in to the last two episodes, I talked all about using the stage and how to use your body in different angles and positions on stage to communicate different things. So even if you're a speaker, singer, comedian, magician, you still have to keep those things in mind. Also, you know, you still have to be very aware of where you are on stage, where you're moving to on stage, so that you can communicate non-verbally. Now, my non-verbal performers, dancers, lip-sync artists, jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, hoopers, fire spinners, my non-verbal. You have to tell the story through movement, through expression, through posture, and sometimes that can be a little more difficult. But you also have, you know, the size of the stage to work with, the movements on the stage, moving with purpose. Don't forget moving with purpose. So no matter what you do on stage, whether it's. Whether it's a verbal act or a non-verbal act, there needs to be a story. Some of your best verbal entertainers. And I know I'm saying verbal and non-verbal, and it's because we're talking about communication here. Okay? So some of your best verbal performers, comedians, singers, whatever you call it, they usually tell a story. So I was watching a Netflix special, this one guy, and I'm not going to say his name because I'm not into slamming people. And he was. I guess his thing was puns, almost like dad jokes in a way. And his. His entire special was like one pun after another, and there wasn't really any connection between the jokes. And so I found it very dry, very boring, and very easy to turn off. The last thing you want to be when you're on stage is easy to turn off or easy to walk away from. So if you're just up there singing one song after another, or quoting one motivational quote after another, or just doing one dance move after another, one joke after another, one trick after another, one sequence after another, one flow after another, if you're just up there doing, going through the motions and the movements, and it's not telling a story and there's nothing being communicated, it is so easy for your audience to just turn you off, tune out, walk away, or worse, leave entirely. So then not only are they walking away from the stage, they're walking away from the entire venue that hired you. Think about how that looks. It's very, very, as a matter of fact, it's not even very important. It is crucial that every performance tell some sort of story. There should be a ride to your show. Think of it like a ride. You know, you get on a roller coaster. At first, there's a build, and then there's immediate excitement. And then somewhere in the middle, there's like a slower part. You know, you slow down, you brake, and then there's more excitement. And then it takes you in for a nice soft landing. Depending what you do, you usually want to end your entire performance on a high energetic note. But again, it depends on what you're doing on stage and how long it is, truthfully. But there has to be a story. That's what separates great performers from amazing performers, is the ability to tell a story on stage, to communicate something with their audience. And the more intimate and the more thought-provoking or emotional, the better. Some of the best performances that I've ever seen have been performances that stand for something or that mean something. Or have a meaning to it. I've put on some pretty intense ones myself. I did an entire show that was dedicated to showing how you become this mold of someone else. How you can allow yourself to be molded by society or by someone who has an influence over you. And you can be molded into someone that you're not. And the importance of breaking that mold and becoming free and being yourself, no matter how extreme that may be. That says something to people. That speaks to people. That's relatable. Your performance, your story, has to say something. It has to stand for something. Or it has to be relatable. One of those three. Anything other than those three, you are not making the impact that you could be making. You are not fulfilling your full potential. It is perfectly fine, as a matter of fact, encouraged to share something personal with the audience. Whether it be something you believe in. Like an activism or something you're feeling like love, depression, happiness, confusion, joy, sadness. It doesn't matter. Something that you're feeling that you can communicate with the audience or something that really provokes their thought and gets them thinking and they can relate to. And something that people can relate to can be, for example, speakers. You guys have it so easy because motivational speakers, especially anyone can relate. To being motivated. Anyone. Every single person on the face of this planet could use motivation. It's entirely relatable. It gets people thinking and it gets people feeling. Motivational speaking is a great example. But you can't be up there just quoting, you can be all that you can be. Hard work beats talent. If talent fails to work hard, get up and keep going. Dust yourself off. You're only inferior if you let yourself be. It doesn't matter what you can say on stage. If you're not telling a story and you're not standing for something and you're not making it abundantly clear. What your performance is saying, then you're not making an impact. And I'm not just talking about speakers. Comedians, same thing. If you're just telling joke after joke and there doesn't seem to be anything connecting the two, there's not going to be a connection to your audience. They need to be shown the way. And the way you show them is through the story. So let me ask you this. If you go back and you watch any performance that you've done, just pick one. Are you telling a story? Or are you just showing off? Because if you're just showing off, I encourage you to put thought and emotion into your performance. When you're planning it and you're blocking it out and you're really putting your heart into it, put more. When you're crafting your show, put a piece of yourself into it. Put some emotion into it. Put something that you're feeling in it. And when you're on stage, allow yourself to feel. Allow yourself. Allow yourself to be that person that you are inside. Allow yourself to break free. No matter what you do on stage, tell a story. Because the audience, from kids to senior citizens, everybody loves a story. If you're telling a story and you're provoking thought and you're provoking emotion, you are going to rock it, my friend. Absolutely rock it. If you're feeling stuck or if you're looking for a way to add more meaning into your performance, to your performance, shoot me an email, [email protected]. get on the phone together let's talk through some things and get you putting that spark back in your show and get you dreaming the way you should be dreaming thanks again for tuning in if you want more being on stage i'm in the being on stage facebook group every single wednesday for a motivational video you can get there easily by going to beingonstage.com group you can also follow on instagram i'm sharing some really cool stuff about how to use the stage right now so you definitely want to check that out follow on instagram or twitter at being on stage again thank you thank you so much for tuning in and keep on shining

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Every performance must communicate a story or meaning to the audience, not just display technical skill.
  2. Performers communicate both verbally and non-verbally, so stage positioning and body language matter for all acts.
  3. Non-verbal performers such as dancers and jugglers must tell their story through movement, expression, and posture.
  4. Performances without a connecting story or message become boring and make it easy for audiences to tune out or leave.
  5. A strong show follows a narrative arc similar to a roller coaster, building excitement, slowing down, and landing with energy.
  6. Great performers are distinguished from amazing ones by their ability to tell a story and provoke thought or emotion.
  7. Performances should stand for something, mean something, or be relatable, such as motivational speaking or personal expression.
  8. Performers should put personal emotion into their shows and allow themselves to feel and break free on stage.

Summary:

In this episode of the Being On Stage podcast, host Reggie Dawson explores what separates good performers from great ones: the ability to tell a story. He argues that regardless of the performance type, whether singing, comedy, dance, juggling, or public speaking, every act communicates something to the audience. Performers must make their performance mean something and provoke thought or feeling, rather than simply showing off skills.

Dawson compares a performance to a painting in a museum, where the artist communicates emotions and ideas to viewers. He notes that verbal performers have an easier time communicating directly, but non-verbal artists must use movement, expression, and posture to tell their story. He warns that performances lacking a narrative connection become dry and easy to turn off, potentially driving audiences away from the venue entirely.

Using the metaphor of a roller coaster ride, he explains that shows need a build, excitement, slower moments, and a satisfying landing. He encourages performers to share personal emotions, stand for something, or be relatable, and to put a piece of themselves into every show. He invites listeners to email him for help adding meaning to their performances and reminds them to follow the podcast on social media.

FAQs

The main purpose is to communicate something meaningful to the audience by telling a story, provoking thought, and evoking emotion. It is not just about showing off skills.

Storytelling separates great performers from amazing ones by creating a connection with the audience. Without a story, performances become easy to tune out or walk away from.

Non-verbal performers like dancers, jugglers, and acrobats can tell a story through movement, expression, posture, and purposeful actions on stage.

A performance should give the audience something to think about or feel, such as provoking emotions or thoughts. It should stand for something, mean something, or be relatable.

If you are just doing a series of tricks, jokes, or songs without connection, it is boring and easy to turn off. Instead, put thought, emotion, and a story into your performance.

A good performance should be like a ride with a build, excitement, slower parts, and a soft landing, often ending on a high energetic note. It needs a story to keep the audience engaged.

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Transcription

1814 words