5 Live Performance Hacks To Help You Stand Out Every Time

 You can already picture it. Stepping onto the stage and looking out into the audience, you dream of seeing hundreds—no—thousands of faces staring back at you, screaming with excitement as you take the stage, singing every word back to you. An audience that feels the same way about your music as you feel about your favorite band’s music.

It’s the dream.

And honestly, it’s well within your reach.

But there are a few things you need to line up first, and among the most important is to have a live show that has people wanting to come back for more every single time. How do you do that?

Build up the hype—before and after the show

Most people need to see the same thing an average of 7 times before it really sticks—before they truly take notice. That’s why we’re often inundated with the same ads over and over again because advertisers know this. And it works.

Your business (that’s your music career)—and the way you promote things are no different. You need to remind your audience of what’s coming up, as well as what they’re missing if they choose not to take that step. And you need to do this over and over again. Just be sure you’re doing it in a way that actually builds hype instead of spam.

For instance, I don’t want you to post the same show flyer and write “come to our show” 10 different times. That’s not getting anyone to your show. Instead, I want you to find creative ways to get the word out. 

Before a show this looks like:

• Stories where you casually mention the show coming up as a part of something else you’re talking about “IE: today we got pizza and went to the party store to get some awesome supplies for our show on Saturday.” then you show the supplies, mess around with it for a bit, have fun, and move on. You make it part of the conversation, not the focus.
• Ask other bands (preferably those on the bill) to do a post or a story talking about what they are most looking forward to this weekend—have them include mention of the show. Again, part of the conversation, not the focus.
• Do a post asking fans to submit or vote on what song you should play at the show—then re-share, add your thoughts/text/etc

For hype after the show:

Ask your fans to take photos and/or videos of you performing, share it to social media and tag you, and then after the show, share it to your own social media. 

Even if you have a small audience and only a few people do this (or you ask your merch person or friend to do it the first few times) it’s a great way to build anticipation for the next show and show people what they’re missing.

Let your personality shine

Listen, I have all the respect in the world for artists getting on stage and baring their soul to the world in front of others. It’s not easy. But if you’re going to do it, then do it. Don’t get up there and half commit by singing your songs but remaining stiff as a board, or not talking, or being afraid to show any ounce of personality. That makes for a boring and unremarkable show.

I know it can feel scary on stage and off to truly let your personality shine, but think of all your favorite bands, the ones whose live shows you never miss—are they going through the motions, trying not to stand out or are they baring it all up there, with a like-it-or-not attitude? Which one is more memorable?