The key to putting on a successful live performance is to engage your audience. You need to play each song like there’s no tomorrow, but it’s also important to keep things lively in between songs and throughout your time on stage.

In this article, I will address the art of speaking to your audience during the periods when you’re not playing music. This aspect of live performance seems be very natural for some but very difficult for others. I will attempt to address some of the reasons for this and provide some tips for how to effectively engage your audience when you’re on the mic.

For many great songwriters out there today and throughout history, the ability to let their personality flow out to a large crowd comes natural. They crave the spotlight (in a good way) and bring a confident command to their stage presence. They have can speak meaningfully into the microphone and engage in an intimate conversation with their audience.

For many other great songwriters, talking it up between songs can be a real challenge. Writing songs, performing, and singing require a high level of emotional flow. You need to totally let yourself go and soak up the moment. Expressing your emotions to a large audience through music requires a great deal of vulnerability. When you’re wrapped up in this moment, it can be extremely difficult to transition to a personable speaking role.

I have often found that when I am performing and singing a song, I have a very different self awareness than when I’m socializing with friends. When I’m performing a song, I’m totally lost in the feeling and emotion of the music and lyrics. Socializing with friends I tend to have a much more laid back and humorous approach. While I try and work my social personality into my songwriting, it doesn’t always blend seamlessly. Flipping between song mode and personality mode is a unique and difficult skill, but one that can be mastered with practice.

Here are some tips and ideas to consider:

Nothing can be mastered without lots and lots of practice.  The only way to practice speaking to a large audience is to do just that.  Throw yourself onto the stage often and regularly.  Participate in open mics. Book a steady gig schedule. With each performance, you will become more comfortable handling the microphone and your speaking voice.

Realize that your on-stage personality might be different in some way than your normal social personality.  When you’re on stage, every statement will be more pronounced and definitive.  Again, through practice and steady gigging, you will gradually develop your stage personality.  Start with very short statements and work your way up to longer and more frequent crowd interaction (but be careful not to talk your audience’s ears off.  They came to hear your music!)

Try sticking to a few pre-planned statements during your set.  For example, you might always use the same sentence to introduce your band, or use a simple “hows everyone feeling tonight!”  Try setting up a unique / funny / witty / bold statement to use as your go-to crowd interaction.  Repeat it at all your performances.  Of course, there are drawbacks to this idea.  Returning audience members will hear the same stage chatter at all the shows.  However, when you’re on tour and you’re just starting out, the majority of your audience will be newcomers, so you can deliver your trusty statements with confidence.

That said, I do think variety is very important.  As you grow into your role as a front-man (or solo performer), you want to mix it up as much as possible.  Comment on the venue you’re at, the mood of the audience, a recent development, anything to keep things fresh.

It all comes down to creating an intimacy with your audience.  As much as you want your listeners to love your music, you want to sell them on you and your personality as well.  This may sound strange at first, but it’s true.  Audiences connect with you on a personal level, even if they haven’t met you face to face.  Make them feel comfortable, excited, and entertained.

Over to you…

How do you interact with your live audience?

Today I’m going to discuss how to construct your live setlist to ensure a successful concert from the opening song to the encore. Many artists and bands who are just starting out in their gigging career tend to overlook the importance of considering the order of songs in your live set. Don’t make this mistake. Craft your live setlists wisely.

Song Order: It’s All About Energy

Every song brings a certain level of energy. This should be the first factor to consider when determining the order of your songs. Some songs are loud and fast, others are soft and slow, some fall somewhere in between. It often takes a couple of performances to determine where your songs actually fall within the spectrum of your set.

The general approach is to start at a high energy level, then bring things down for a bit, then have a mid-set spike in energy, then back down again, then finish the set with a bang. See the diagram below:

You don’t want to change energy levels too abruptly. You want to ease the audience from one song to the next.  Try and find songs that work well as transition songs — something to work between the high energy and low energy points in your set.  Don’t go from hard to soft too quickly.  A sudden drop in energy level can quickly kill the excitement in the room.  A sudden jolt of noise right after a soft tune can cause your audience to find a better listening location — possibly at the next bar!  Harness the flow of energy and sense when you’re audience is ready for a change of pace.  Then ease them into it with a transition song.

Vary the Mood

Energy level is important.  But so is the mood.  Great songwriting is all about capturing emotions.  Hopefully the songs in your set will present a variety of emotions and subject matters.  Mix it up as much as possible here.

Don’t bunch all of your sad songs together, or all your political songs together.  Don’t make the first half of your set packed with fun-loving songs about surfing, and the second half of your set all about your demons within.  Unlike smoothing the transition of energy levels, you want to show your versatility here by flipping between subjects and moods quickly.

Most of your audience could be first-time listeners.  Show them what you’re all about in the little time you have to convert them.  Varying the mood is a great way to keep things fresh while staying within one energy level.  For example you might play two soft songs back to back, but the first is a haunting introspective piece and the next is a sweet love song.

Consider the Key and Tempo

Another thing to consider is which key each of your songs are in.  If you have several songs in the key of E minor, it may not be such a great idea to play them next to each other.  Changing the key from song to song can create a sense of variety and progression – even if this is sensed subconciously by your audience.  Too many songs in the same key can give the impression that many of them sound the same.

Tempo is another key factor in determining the order of your songs.  It’s common to start off a set with something up-beat.  Personally, I also like to follow with another fast-paced tune for the second song.  This sets the excitement level for the rest of the set.  Be mindful of abrupt changes in tempo from song to song.  Sometimes this may work well, but sometimes not.  Use your best judgement in conjunction with implementing the tips mentioned above.

Some Practical Tips

When creating the set list, I like to write down a random list of all of the songs I want to incorporate into the set.  Then I’ll visually pick from that list, and compile the final ordered set list.  This way I don’t miss anything.

It’s best to write up the final set list using a dark black marker and large letters.  Even better, use a computer printout with a large bold font.  The lights can go in and out when you’re on stage and you want to be sure you can easily see which song is coming up next.

Stay tuned in to what works and what doesn’t.  Take feedback from your audience after the show or your manager to get a feel for which parts of the song order were effective, and which ones may need tweaking.  I personally like to vary set lists from show to show as much as possible, but it’s always good to know which songs generally work well when played next to others.  If you play a different set every night, post the latest set list to your website!  This is a great way to keep your online audience interested and it builds anticipation for your next performance.

Just like everything else in the world of songwriting and performance, everyone has their own style.  I’m interested to hear what works best for you when it comes to writing set lists.  Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.