StereoType Records

5 Tips for being better on Open Mic Night

Open Mic Nights are quite a double edged sword. They’re exciting and scary all at the same time. For many singers and songwriters it’s the first time performing to a crowd that isn’t made up of friends, family members and pets and for this reason, you need to do all you can to make a good impression. Here are a few tips that can help make your opening night a success.

Practice makes perfect

A point that I covered in my article about recording your first demo is that practice makes perfect. When you get up on stage for the first time, chances are that the experience will be a little overwhelming, no matter how small the stage. there’s a lot to think about when you’re up there and the last thing you want to be thinking about is trying to remember the words to the song you’re performing. Practice as much as you can so that the lyrics are second nature. This will give you the freedom to concentrate on other things when you’re up there, like what the rest of your body is doing.

Get your moves right

When you’re the centre of attention, every move you make or don’t make is being watched. A part of performing for a crowd is well, performing. Try and watch yourself singing in the mirror when you practice. Standing still for a four minute song is bound to make anyone self conscious, to work on your posture, your walk (as Elvis called it) and using some space to bring your song to life.

Don’t strangle the mic

Mic technique on stage is very important, and is something that deserves and article all of its own. Something I see very often is that new singers tend to cover the top of the mic when they sing. If you do this, you’re cutting off what the mic can ‘hear’ and as a result you don’t sound as good as could potentially could. When singing, hold the middle of the mic firmly and try not to let your fingers cover to.

Bring your friends

Singing to a crowd is a lot like delivering an oral at school. It’s a lot easier if you know that your best friend is in class with you. Try and take your own support base along to your gig. Nothing builds confidence like hearing a crowd scream for you. Excitement is also infectious – if your friends cheer and scream, more often than not the rest of the audience gets excited too and will cheer wildly as you sing on stage. Try it, you’ll see

Engage the audience

As someone in a crowd, I always respond better to someone I like and the first step to making friends is to introduce yourself. Nothing too major, just a quick “Hi my name is ___ and I’m so happy to be singing for you tonight.” A quick welcome can go a long way to getting people to warm up to you, especially if it’s accompanies by a nice smile. Cos smiling rocks.

These are just a few small things that you can do to try and help make your big stage debut a little more memorable and fun. Try them out and you’ll see that things will be a whole lot easier.

Lester

P.S BONUS TIP – If you’re singing using backing tracks, make sure that you’re tracks are in the right order. Have track 1 as your first, track 2 as your second, etc. There’s nothing worse than standing on stage with nothing to say waiting for the sound guy to flick back and forth through your CD.