Put Some Clothes On

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 Rockstars, Reggie Dawson here, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome back. Thanks for tuning in, and for those of you watching on Facebook, thank you. Putting this podcast out, not just through the podcast, but also through a live on Facebook. So, just another way you can see what's going on with Being On Stage on Facebook. So listen, you can tell by the title of today's episode, it sounds a little risque, but. I was actually doing a live video on my personal Facebook, my personal page yesterday, which yesterday is relative to when you listen to this podcast or watch the video. Yesterday, November 9th, I did a Facebook live on my personal page. Just kind of like updating my friends and family with what I'm doing, not just with Being On Stage, but in life and my daughter and everything like that. And I updated about this podcast and where things are at and how things are going with. The people that I'm talking to and the people that I'm getting to work with, all the fantastic performers that are, you know, hopping on my calendar and talking to me about what's going on with them and where they want to take their next step and what's holding them back and kind of making those plans to bulldoze your way through the barriers and, you know, explode, get your vision, bring your vision to life on stage. And one of the things I was talking, when I was talking about, actually, when I was talking about the previous episode. About changing it up and doing new things once in a while. One of my friends, one of the guys I used to work with, or I guess help, coach, he mentioned that the best advice, like one of the first times I met him, the very first words out of my mouth was, you need to put some more clothes on. And he was very taken back. And this is, you know, he kind of recapped this in the comments as well. But I remember it like it was yesterday. Although it was like five or six years ago now. But maybe less than that. But anyways, I was, you know, thinking about when that happened and what it was, was the very first time I had seen him perform, you know, he had been wanting to get help and wanting to wanting to break into the industry and everything like that and wanted to, you know, be a dancer and a singer and kind of like a jack of all trades. And where he came from and his background was a bit more on the risque, you know, sexual side of performing. And to him and his mentality was sex sells. And 100% true, sex sells. If you have the ability to go out there with little, very little clothing on, you're going to make money. You're going to become popular. People are going to like you. But they're not going to like your talent. They're going to like your body. And that's, I think, is where you have a decision to make. And I'm not saying that it's, it's, I'm not saying it's wrong to go out there. And do something a little more sexy and a little more risky, risque, if you will. But if that's the only thing you're doing. And at the time when I met this individual, that's what he was doing. Like his, his primary focus was the sexy side of things. And so he would go out at the beginning of the show in just, just underwear or just a robe and underwear and take off the robe. And, you know, he, he had the body type to do that. And not all of us do. I, for one, do not have the body type to do that. And then maybe that's why I, I kind of coach this way. Because I, I didn't have that to rely on. And that's, that's kind of what I feel is, is if you're using your body and you're using sexiness to, to completely rely on to get your audience engaged and interested. That's only going to last so long. It's not going to be a permanent fan base. It's not going to be, it's not going to be something that you're going to be able to do consistently every single time and feel good about it. You're going to start feeling repetitive. It's going to start to be, you know, you're going to start to be bored and just going through the motions and it's no longer a performance. It's a job. And that's not, that's, that's not cool. That's not okay. So one of the best pieces of advice I think I've given people is put clothes on. And the reason for that is, the reason for that is when, when you are clothed, and I'm going to get to how we can pull this all together here in a minute. But when you are clothed and you have clothes on. Um, on stage, there, there is a mystery. There's, there's a little more, uh, I don't even know what the right word is, but it's kind of like you're not giving everything away. Right? That's kind of how it is. You're not really giving everything away. There's some mystery. There's some things you're hiding. Like you can tell that maybe you're a very, you have an attractive body, but you're hiding it kind of deal. And I know this, this episode is kind of going way off into like body types and everything like that. And I, I'm not. Believe me, I'm not the type to body shame anybody. I feel like no matter your shape or size or color or gender, you can go out on stage and give a damn good show, um, and not have to take anything off. But the, the important part about putting stuff on is, is actually putting work into a performance and not into a strip tease, if you will. And listen, I've worked with exotic dancers. Like this is not a. This is not an attack at those exotic dancers that, that do perform in this manner. And that is part of their performance. I'll even tell them put clothes on because even if your intention is to reveal more throughout the show, why do it all at once? Why that should be like the last 30 to 45 seconds of being on stage is the big reveal. If you will, the big reveal of everything. If that's, if that's your stick, if that's your. What you do, if that's not what you do, for example, if you are a singer, if you are a musician, if you are a mudgish, and I'm trying to say them all at once, comedian, dancer, any of these things, you are not necessarily required to use your body to get attention. And I think that's where a lot of people veer off is they want to use their body and they want to be sexy and sensual and, and peak that, that certain emotion. One of the best things you can do for yourself, one of the best things you can do for your career is put clothes on, go out there fully clothed. And listen, you can wear some extravagant clothing, you can wear clothing and still be sexy. That's not the point. The point is, is you want to express your talent. You want to express your creativity, not just what you look like, but what you can do. And the only way that you're going to be able to do that consistently. Is to do it clothed and yeah, there's going to be a time and a place. There's always a time and a place. And this is one of the things we were joking about on my, on my Facebook was sometimes you're, you're going to be clothed and sometimes you're not. And kind of changing this over into life. Cause I always, I always like to bring in like a life kind of philosophical lesson into my podcast and into my, my messages here. And kind of in the same lines of like putting clothes. Clothes on and, and on stage and, and, you know, working with the talent that you have and not just the body that you have. Transitioning that into, into your life and into your career. It's kind of a metaphor in a way for not doing the things that's expected, not doing the things that you think you need to do. But actually taking charge and doing the things that you want to do and expressing yourself in a way that you want to express yourself. I don't care what anyone tells you. I, I really don't. I'm going to tell you this. You do not have to get naked on stage. You do not have to show everything you have in order to get fans. You do not have to strip down to nothing in order for people to enjoy what you put out on stage. In any line of work. At all. This public service announcement has been brought to you by being on stage. So listen, if you want to explore. Other areas like if you're even if this isn't necessarily you, like if you're not that person that's going to that's going through this. But if you're want to explore ways that you can, you know, expand your talent without necessarily using just your body or if listen, if you're stuck anywhere in your career and you just want to leg up will help jump on my calendar. You can go to being on stage dot com slash calendar and you pick a date. You pick a time and I call you on my cell phone and we chat for about 30. And I guarantee by the end of the 30 minutes, you're going to have at least three things you can start doing immediately to, you know, step up your career and step up your performance and really boost your audience connection, engagement and follow up your audience. Follow up is the big piece here. So that's a wrap, guys. And let me just let me just kind of put this all together with the putting the clothes on versus taking the clothes off. It all comes down to this. You have an amazing talent inside you. Do you want people to see your talent or do you want people to see your tatas? And I mean that for both guys and girls. So have a great one, everybody. Take care and keep on shining.