By Mark Stoddard
The difference between a singer and a performer is… a career.
With all the lessons a singer must go through to prepare and perfect the voice it is little wonder that when a singer gets on a stage the voice is where concentration is directed.
In addition I’ve heard voice teachers insist on singers striking a formal recital pose and hold it for the duration of the song. One explanation is that the audience wants to focus on the voice and not on the singer.
All this leads to a disaster for the singer: an unimaginative performance void of personality and charm. Or, in other words, it’s a song feast but a performance famine.
Recently I staged a concert in my backyard that opens up to the golf course. More than 400 people came for a concert under the stars called “Concert on the Green”. People enjoyed the concert but the favorite performance was not by the person with the best voice. Instead it was my friend, Ron Hansen, who is a great performer. He has a very good voice, but, it was his ability to take the mic, look the audience in the eye, talk to them and then woo them with his ability to interpret the music and sing it with emotion and meaning. The other singers sang beautifully, and several were very good performers in their own right. Still others focused on their voice instead of performing. Enjoyable, yes. Well done, yes. But the money man was Ron Hansen.
Here are some clues for becoming a great performer:
1. Perform often. Experience is the best teacher for performing. It takes 10,000 hours of performing before you’ll become a master performer. Get started now and many times a week. Read my chapter on Venues if you need one of the 50+ places I list where singers ought to perform.
2. Look the audience in the eyes and sing to the person who gives you the most response. Then to the next and so forth.
3. Animate. Move your body. Don’t become Elvis but do put some life in your body.
4. Take chances. If you’ve never done a move, do it. See how it goes. Push your personal performance envelope and measure the results.
5. Enjoy. Love the stage and take command of it. When it’s yours, it shows and the audience knows.
6. Talk to the audience. Give them a brief explanation of what you’re doing. Smile with your words.
7. Involve the audience. You may not get this chance with a particular number, but many cry out for the audience to sway, sing, chant, clap or whatever with you. Play on that.
8. Translate. If you must sing a song in a foreign tongue from your audience, tell them what the song is about. Give them two or three words to listen to that make a point. If you tell them what Un Bel Di is about, they’ll be moved even if they don’t understand the language.
9. Plant yourself and then move on. Happy feet are maddening. Take a position and then be definitive in your movements, but don’t shuffle around.
10. Love it. Believe it. If you love it, they’ll love it. If you believe it, they’ll believe it.
A Singer vs a Performer
