As a performer or a performing artist (artist, poet, rapper, or even actor), you might be wondering why your role model (or people you look up to and emulate) are doing so well and why some of their performances are still stuck in your brain. Occasionally we find ourselves recalling the titles of their ( your role models’) works like it’s ours. Why is that so? It is simple to know, i earnestly pray you understand.

There are a couple of things that I—as a spoken words artist—have observed, and that is simply the fact that these ‘good guys‘ have restrictions or timelines to which they keep themselves in check for being the best.

So in my research, I found a couple of steps that if you do, will grant you a great performance and make your art piece (whatever the art, as far as it’s performance) standout. Join me as we expose them to your mind’s eye.

1. Have a great content:

The very first and unbeatable step of having a great content is to ‘Have a great content’
Whatever it is you’re performing and you really want to impress ( no hard feelings) or communicate your work with your audience.

You must have a great content!

Your work must be filled with a message you are hoping to communicate. Should it be in love, success, injustice, family, dreams—whatever it is. Start with a message.

Then what most people do unconsciously, which situates them below average is that they forsake poetic devices, figures of speech, manner of approach, conceptualized and all others there is to art. We are aware you have gotten your message clear, but leaving your message bare of these other parts of art makes it barren to the ears and eyes of the audience.

You want to communicate, and to communicate, you have to use a language—figuratively—they understand to do so. A youth in his 20’s who thinks only about fun and glee. Say he is in your audience, and you in your intentions to pass a message go so direct and up-front with whatever it is you have, you will rather get booed than be applauded.

So make use of figures of speech, creative concepts, creative approaches to your performance. All these things add color to your piece of art. I’m sure you want a beautiful picture painted on the mind of your audience.

2. Be courageous

Part of what kills a great content in performance is stage fright and lack of confidence.

Confidence is a major necessity in whatever great thing you are doing.

You have to stand your ground—mentally first! 

Have confidence in yourself first, in your creativity—notwithstanding the amazing professionalism and prowess of others or the class of audience you’re standing before. You must have confidence in you!

You must always be aware of the fact that life on page, in the studio, within friends and colleagues, during rehearsals—are all different from when you are on stage! Not even minding your temperaments.

There are etiquettes of being on stage and performing. Know them and use them.

You must stand tall—metaphorically. Even  though you are all alone on a strange environment and you’ve seen those who seem to be more professional than you, don’t bulge.

And more importantly, to be courageous you have to have a mental picture of what you stand for. It can be a lion if you’re in a contest, an eagle if you are performing in place and you seen quite intimidated, a teacher, a cinema-movie-based actor if you’re in a gathering of fellow creatives, what ever it is, paint a firm mountain of what you stand for and perform as such—still metaphorically.

3. Be very expressive.

Being expressive is a vital key in gaining the heart of your audience. If you can act into the script you’re portraying to project the scenery and message—boom! You’re one step closer to communicating perfectly and being applauded befittingly.

Don’t be insensitive to your piece of art.

Bring the wordings alive through gestures and facial expressions; emphasis in some words through pitch accent, costume if necessary. Display your art the way your want it to be appreciated.

4. Be audible and clear

I cant overstress this, what upcoming artists and performers don’t understand is that being on stage is so much different than being else where. You must be audible. Not shouty and nosiy, but being loud enough to be heard by your audience, and clear enough too. Whatever your definition of clarity is. Could it be you’re too fast in speaking, too low, too slurry. Or do your words all sound monotonous and boring?

Make it an interesting and enjoyable performance, even though it’s a sober one. Ascend and descend if need be too.

5. Learn from others:

No man is an island.

I don’t hope to make that statement redundant, but that’s a metaphor.

You don’t know all there is to know, even in your field of art. Knowledge is borrowed. You can’t self create a new trend if you are ignorant of the former ones. Who knows? You might just create something that’s already in existence.

Where ever stage you find yourself, rebuke yourself from refusing to learn from others. It’s a sign of ignorance and arrogance. Even those behind you in professionalism know some things you don’t know, and likely won’t know till death (even though you might need them). Don’t be scared to learn, to ask questions or to focus on something or someone.

Learn how they do it, learn how to do it, then do it.

And also, honestly, I must admit that in the attempts to learn from others, it might incite arrogance and some vein glory in the mind of those you choose to learm whatever it is you want to leaen from them.

You can learn in silence and not show it, or Make them aware you’re learning. But learn!

6. Don’t try to clone another

Authenticity is a major value to harness if you must have a great performance.

Sounds contradictory right? Wrong.
I stated in the previous point that you should Learn how they did it, Learn how to do it, and then do it—like you originally will do something amazing.

Don’t do it like the original initial work.
Be creative, spontaneous and mastermind the routes you want to use to communicate your art.

7. Be intentional.

Lastly, if you have to successfully create something worth loving and relating to, you must be intentional. Every move, every word, every breathe, smile and frown must be planned on stage. Why? Because the spotlight’s on you when you are in stage(even though there are no physical spotlights on). Success can’t be stumbled upon, it is planned for.

You must be intentional about communicating with the audience. It is art. It is business. There’s a science to it. If you haven’t figured it out, soon you will.