Observations from a Recital

Yesterday our kids were performing in a piano and voice recital held by their music teacher. All the children performed well and tried their best. Two performances demonstrated lessons any presenter should take note of. One was by a girl who was singing a solo. She had obviously practiced it at home, but when she came to the front of the room and set the pages with the words on the music stand, that's when things got off track. She had not practiced how she was going to flip the pages and almost lost her place three or four times. Lesson to presenters: Practice where you are going to place your notes and how you are going to flip or turn them before you get up to speak.

The second performance was a young man who captured the audience's attention and held it throughout his solo. He did not sing perfectly, but he had great facial expressions and used his body to express emotion that added to the words he was singing. Lesson to presenters: If you want to capture attention, it won't be only what you say, but more importantly how you say it. Tap into your emotions about the subject and let your passion show through.

Lessons on great performances are out there for all of us to see every day. What will you notice and learn from?