I’m a musician. After watching videos of myself, one thing I can say is that I lack a little something in the stage presence department. I play jazz, so I’m not looking for a big “rock star” type vibe, but a little extra charisma onstage couldn’t hurt.
I’ve got some A314 coming (should arrive today). I was thinking about trying it out for a gig I’ve got coming up next week. I also figure it might help give me a leadership role within the band. This is just a pick-up band, so it’s no big, but in jazz, it kind of helps if one person takes the lead and helps to kind of steer things.
I dunno, maybe talk to other musicians who have good stage presence and ask how they do it? Acting classes? 'mones may help too, but learning how to project emotions would help (I’d imagine).
It’s not really anything to do with acting. I don’t know how to explain it. Some guys, you just want to watch. They’re not doing anything but playing but they project a “presence.” (We’re talking about jazz here. No one expects you to be leaping around or grimacing wildly or anything.)
I was at a Jazz show the other night. It was great. Small venue, maybe 50 people, in an elegant lounge. The drums and bass were off the hook, the piano was sweet, but the singer, despite being sexy and having a technically wonderful voice, was missing that special something. My uncle and I both agreed afterward that she just didn’t connect with the audience on that intimate level.
To contrast, on Sunday I went to a Flaming Lips show. It was a HUGE crowd, thousands of people, yet the the singer REALLY put his heart out there for the fans. (It helped that he had a video camera pointing at his face projected on the big screen.)
Point being, I really don’t think pheromones would have changed either of those performances. It seems like stage presence is something you’re either born with or you work really hard on, most likely a combination of both.
This is pure speculation on my part, mind you. Take it with a grain of salt.
Didn’t Groucho Marx say something like, “The key to performing is sincerity. Once you learn to fake that, you’ve got it made?”
Obviously, I’m not looking to change anything about the way I play (other than to keep improving) - just looking to enhance connection all the way around. Maybe some Instant Openness might enlarge a few ears.