How to create a stage presence for singers? I have been singing since I was nine years old, which means I have been performing for 14 years and have many years of experience in this field. So I know what I am talking about.
We need to understand what is the importance of stage presence and why we need to use it. We need to look into other artists’ presence as examples and how we can use it as inspiration to create our own.
We will dive into the specifics like where your eyes look and the importance of storytelling through your body. Let’s learn about what is good stage presence.
My advice on how to create a stage presence for singers
I have studied and taken multiple singing and music exams. I have taken GCSE music, a bachelor’s degree in Contemporary music performance and a master’s in Songwriting and production. From all my experience with music, the best advice I ever received, for stage presence for singers, was to act out the meaning of the lyrics. What I mean by that is not just to sing the words and make them sound pretty but also to act out what is happening in the song.
For example, if you sing a song about heartbreak with a slow tempo, you should move slowly and gracefully. Use your arms; if a lyric in the song says something like ‘the pain in my chest’, while singing this lyric, place your hand on your chest and clutch your heart. This helps convey the song’s message and make it feel natural, like you’re singing from personal experience; your audience will feel it when you express your emotions.
Remember, during a sad song, use sad and longing facial expressions, and look longingly into the distance like you are daydreaming. You should get the gist. You aren’t just creating pretty melodies with your voice; you’re using your entire body and facial expressions to tell a story to your audience. If it’s a sad song, you want to make people cry (in a good way).
This scene from Grease is an excellent example of a heartbreak/sad romance stage presence. Note that Olivia Newton-John doesn’t stare down at the camera; she’s always looking into the distance and glancing at the ground, which gives a sad and longing emotion. Her body language is lazy and loose, like she can’t do anything with herself as she can’t stop thinking about Danny.
Persona – stage presence for singers
Other artists like to use the persona technique. This is when they create different characters they can bring on stage. A famous example is the rap artist Eminem. He made a persona called slim shady. Another excellent example of an artist using a persona is David Bowe. He had a character called Ziggy Stardust. You should check out both of these artists’ performances as their personas on YouTube to better understand what a persona is.
Persona and stage presence meaning
A persona is a character an artist will create for stage performances. This allows artists to be creative with their performance and music by creating a story with this character. It’s a good way to story tell in the music and performance to keep the performance entertaining.
Stage presence can be slightly different; it’s still storytelling but with more authenticity; you can tell a story about yourself and your own experiences.
You must express great charisma by using energy, emotions, and movement to invite your audience in as a stage presence example. For stage presence for singers, you tend to see singers going to the front of the stage and hyping up their audience by jumping up and down and dancing with their audience, pointing to a mic towards the audience to let the audience sing the well-known parts.
How to improve your stage presence for singers?
To have a great stage presence for singers, You can always practice your stage presence by performing in front of a mirror or recording yourself and watching the footage back to see what looks good and what doesn’t; I know this can be hard not to judge yourself too much, but remember it’ll take time to get used to and it will look more natural.
Another way is to get a stage presence coach if you want to take it further, but my best advice when starting is to learn from practice and experience. It also helps to get feedback from friends and family. Collaboration with other artists is another great way to learn; you can learn from each other’s experiences and help each other.
My stage performance tips for singers
- Practice the performance until you feel entirely confident. The confidence will show on stage more when you know what you are doing.
- Record yourself- an excellent way to see where you can improve and also helps to track progress.
- Wear something you feel confident in,
- understand what you are singing about
- Act out the story and meaning of the song using your body language, movement and facial expressions.
- Check out Singer’s Guide To Stage Presence: 4 Methods Every Singer Should Use
Why is stage presence important in singing?
Stage presence for singers is important as you need to keep the audience engaged as much as possible; you want people to come away from your performance feeling energised and excited. You want people discussing your performance to drive more traffic to your future performances.
Standing still won’t get people dancing; it is also a bad stage presence for singers. You want to move around the stage and get people up and moving. Stage performance keeps your performance memorable.
Take Pink, for example; she is good at acrobatics which she then uses in her performances.
I’m not saying you have to do acrobats to engage your audience. I’m suggesting if there is something that you are good at that you can include in your performance, then go for it. This is a good unique quality to add to your stage presence.
Where do singers look while performing on stage? – stage presence for singers
From my experience of learning about stage presence for singers, I tend to look at the wall at the back of the room, but not for the entire performance; I’ll look at everyone’s faces to engage more and try and hype them up. Sometimes it’s nice to close my eyes now and then to sad songs, as this can come across as emotional and passionate.
Stage presence for dancers
Stage presence for dancers can be different from stage presence for singers. Stage presence for dancers is what makes you stand out from all the other dancers. You need to have great posture and stand tall. Add personal flavour and flair to your movements, don’t make it look like you are going from move to move. Commit to the character you are playing, remembering to emote their face and body. Fully extend your movements. Don’t be shy show how confident you are.
The emotive facial expressions and commitment to the character are similar in stage presence for singers. If you are a singer, you could even include a bit of a dance act in your performance and use the dance stage presence techniques to make your overall stage performance engaging.
If dance is meant to be elegant, stay light and graceful; show it from your toes to your fingertips. Be masculine in heavier songs.
Conclusion
We have now analysed the ins and out of how to have a stage presence for singers. We have learnt what stage presence is for singers and how to apply it to your performance. We also know about persona, a technique that singers use to enhance their performance by creating brand-new characters to perform on stage. We have learnt why stage presence is significant for singing and how it can help build your fan base and get the word around.
We know that stage presence for singers is a different kind of stage presence for dancers, but they both have similarities.
I hope you have enjoyed this post about stage presence for singers, and I hope you have learnt something helpful and informative for you to put to use.
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