Using Body Movement on Stage

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, Reggie Dawson here, your host of the Being On Stage podcast, coming back with a vengeance after a few days off from the hurricane. Listen, I was watching a TV show, and it made me think about this podcast and some of the things that I talked to you about, and kind of how you present yourself on stage with the audience. And there's a lot of different ways that you can communicate with your audience, and I think one of the most overlooked ways to communicate with your audience is through body language. So, what was the TV show I was watching? I'll give you a couple of hints. You can't see them speak, they wear masks and full uniforms, and they fight. Can you guess it? It is the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Now, listen, they have transcended generations, and that may not be the right word, but the Power Rangers has been around for. I was a kid, I was six, seven years old watching the Power Rangers. And this weekend, while I was staying at my cousin's house, my cousin's youngest son, he's eight, he's now watching the Power Rangers, the more recent one. And one of the cool things about the Power Rangers, and when you watch this, if you watch this, take note. When they're in their full, you know, their Power Ranger getup, you can't see them talk. As a matter of fact, unless you know their voices, you don't actually know which one's speaking. Unless you're. Unless you're actually watching. So why is that? Well, one, they're wearing a mask, so you can't see them move their mouth. But how you actually know they're speaking is through how they move. Of course, it's kind of corny, because it's a kids' fighting show. So they're like, throw up a fist, or they're like, move their head around. But they're very animated when they're the one that's talking. And the one that's not talking is usually frozen or just looking at the other one. And as I'm watching this, and I mean, granted. I didn't watch it for very long. I watched, like, in passing, and it was kind of. Actually, I wish you could have been in my head when this idea came to me about this episode. So I stood there, and I watched it for a minute, and it was like the Green Ranger and the Blue Ranger were having a conversation. And I just happened to notice that they make the same moves. They're doing the same moves that they did in the 90s when I watched it when I was a kid, you know? They hold their fist up. It's morphin' time. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's fight. All this good stuff. And all in my head at once was like, the only way that you know they're talking is because they're moving. Holy crap. If performers use that same method, they can communicate with their audience just through body language. And it's so overlooked when you're on stage. You know, a lot of people, they focus on communicating through their words or, you know. That's singers, comedians, magicians, things, you know, anyone who's talking on stage. Dancers, they want to communicate through their movement or through the energy of the song. And granted, if you're a dancer, of course, you have body language. Like, this may not be as much for dancers as it is for all the other performers. But I think a lot about singers, songwriters, musicians, comedians. Comedians are really good with body language. That's probably not the best example. But a lot of singers, especially, struggle with body language. And it's as simple as pointing at somebody, looking at somebody, shaking hands with somebody, putting your arm around somebody, brushing someone's shoulder, high five, fist bump. Whatever works with your style, really. And it can even be less with the audience. It can even be like, let's back up. Let's just have you on stage. It could be just turning a certain direction. A certain time. It could be something as simple as taking steps to the beat of the music. It could be, you know, some little type of movement that you do that's just expressive of what you're trying to convey. And your body is built as a form of expression. And it's very, very underused. And not just a perfect example of when it's overused is, I don't know if you've ever had a conversation. Like, I mean a full out conversation. Like a full out conversation with an Italian. And no offense to my Italian listeners. Much respect. But Italians tend to be very animated when they talk. They're moving their hands. Their hair is going. Their head's going. They're very animated people when they talk. And they're not the only ones. It's just the ones that I have on top of my head. I'm very animated when I talk. I keep saying I'm going to do it. I have got to do a live video when I do this podcast. Because you guys are going to be like, that man is crazy. Yes. Yes, I am crazy. Crazy about you and your performing on stage and getting it. That's what I'm crazy about. So, one, I want to encourage you to watch an episode of the Power Rangers. And take note of that. Take note of how they use their body language to convey what's going on. Because you can't see them speak. So take note of that. And then think about how you can take those notes and transition it into your own performance. Into your own on stage. Attitude. On stage movement, I should say. And you don't listen. I'm not saying go Power Ranger and like, it's morphin' time. Throw a fist up. Fist in the air. Yeah. I'm not saying like go full on Power Ranger. I'm saying you can learn those lessons of how to communicate without your face. And without your voice. Yeah. So how does a singer or a comedian or a magician or a speaker, how do you communicate without your voice? Their facial expressions and body movement. What if you didn't have a face? Body movement. That's it. That's it. That's, that's, that's all you got is how you move your body, how you move your hands, how you stand, how you move, where you're turning to, how you're positioned. All of these little tiny things that you can tweak in your show to add certain effects or, or add certain emotion or add, just add to your performance. It. The, one of the best things I think I've ever used for a performance is the simple walking in time and pointing, honestly. Like it seems so trivial to just talk it out to you is just kind of literally take steps to the beat of the music and then point at somebody on beat. It sounds so simple, but when you do it, when you do it, the reaction that you get, it's not that simple. You get the reaction of the person that you're immediately pointing to. Plus you get the reaction of the people that just witnessed you from afar because that's the thing about body movement. There's, there's three, there's two to three levels of what body movement can do is, is you have the primary level, which is the people right in front of you, the people that are directly interacting with the body movement that you're doing. And then you have the little bit further away, maybe the people that are like five, 10, five to 10 feet away, kind of observing what you're doing with those other people. And then you have the people that are like five, 10, five to 10 feet away, kind of observing what you're doing with those other people. And that's a whole different experience watching the body move from that far away. It's still communicating the same thing, but it's at a different level. So you can use different movements of your body. You can use different positions, different ways you walk, taking steps to the beat, pointing, touching your chest, touching your head, throwing your arms in the air, throwing your arms out wide, putting one arm up, putting one arm down. Putting both arms out to your side. Make a fist, make an open palm, make another hand, make an I love you, make a rock sign, fist bump your own chest, punch your chest, I don't know, ape style. Smack your own butt, whatever works for your style. There are so many different things that you can do with your body. And this is not about being sexual or this is not about being overly provocative. This is about. This is about simply moving your body to amplify the emotion and the energy that you're portraying on stage. Yes, you're talented. You're talented as all hell. I believe that. I 100% believe that if you clicked on this podcast, you're already talented. I don't need to help you with your talent. But when you want to take that talent and put it on stage and you want to turn that into a performance and give your audience an experience as they enjoy your talent, that's a whole different ballgame. You need the body. You need the body movements. You need facial expressions too. But this podcast is about body movements. You need the body movements to amplify and kind of bring your show up to the next level. Here it comes. Here it comes, everybody. Here it comes. Now, I can help with that. I can help you bring your performance to the next level. That's what I live for, actually. That is the reason I created this podcast, is to help you take your performance to the next level and give your audience an experience that they will. never forget hit me up hop on my calendar. It's as simple as that. I've had, I've had at least three or four people do it in the past couple of weeks. Hit me up, hop on my calendar. Just go to this website, beingonstage.com slash calendar, put a name and email, pick a time. I will call you and we're going to work out a plan to get you to the next level of your performing. We're going to move your performance from where it's at to one to three steps closer to where you want to be. Hit me up. Let's do this. What are we waiting for? Like, honestly, what are you waiting for? So go watch the Power Rangers, hop on my calendar and let's get your body moving, moving, moving. Yes. Uh, if only I could speak on this podcast, that would be wonderful, right? Let's get your body moving on stage. Stop standing around, stop. Looking around, move with purpose and make ish happen. I almost said a bad word in my podcast. Make it happen. Make your dreams happen and keep on shining.