Thursday 23rd April

At the start of the new term at Tech Music Schools, we had the pleasure of meeting
Ola Onabule – one of the most popular British jazz singer today, this was a great
honour for all that attended.  The Master Class pulled in a full room of singers from
Vocaltech, and before he got into the theme of the evening Ola shared with us a part
of his experience and things he has learned during his impressive music career.

The topic of focus at this vocal clinic was Stage Presence, as he described; “this is
something very mystical for the audience but very important for every singer.”  Stage
Presence is mystical because there’s no formula or certain way that you have to behave
on the stage so that you can grab people’s attention. Every singer does that in his or her
own way.  Ola did give us a few rules that we can look at and try to remember…

The first ‘rule’ is confidence.  No matter if you’re shy in your real life or if you don’t like to
be the centre of the attention, you certainly have to show this on the stage.  “Be confident
and inhabit the style you have to perform in.” If inhabiting the style means you have to be
aggressive, you don’t have to be afraid to do it, even if you’re not the same offstage.
Saying that, Ola didn’t forget to also note that although you have to behave different on
the stage then in your real life you never have to forget who you are. You have to remind
yourself that each time before you step on the stage.

The second ‘rule’ concentration. Performers should be as concentrated as possible, try
to grab people’s attention and don’t let it go until the end of the gig. That’s really
important because if you lose your concentration even for a bit, people will notice that
straight away and they’ll start talking and not listening to you. “Once you lose your
audiences’ attention is really hard to get it back.”  That’s why once you step on the stage
you have to be there mentally all the time.

The next ‘rule’ Ola shared with us was something he heard from his father, when he
was younger. The rule is simple – “Don’t take yourself too seriously”.  But not just in
performance, this actually applies to many other spheres in life.

Ola also talked to us about the singer as an entertainer, something that is as important
for the audience as the product or the music you’re presenting.  Stage Presence is the
thing that can make an artist appear interesting and entertaining for the audience but at
the same time (if presented in the wrong way) can make the artist seem dull and
boring. From the moment you walk on the stage you should be prepared to go into a
character – your stage character. You should always talk confidently and be brave with
the things you’re saying.

Communication was the final point of the discussion, whether this is between you and
your band or you and your audience, both critical details that you should never miss in a
performance. The band is a very important element of your performance, and should be
involved as much as possible, after all you are all part of the band and the level of music
and the emotion you’re going to present to the audience will depend on the connection
between you and the band.

In the final part of the vocal clinic, the students got to participate in some practical based
exercises!  Individually the class got up and gave and an example of their stage
presence – we were invited to give our feedback, and we got some great tips from Ola
about how we can improve and make more of an impact on stage.

To conclude the night Ola told us that the most important thing for good stage presence
is from the moment we step on the stage, we should be totally there and be totally
committed to what we are doing.

Zlatka Dimitrova
1 Year Diploma - Vocaltech

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