Skills Needed To Become A Successful Performer

At college we've been looking at the various skills needed to become successful in our chosen career paths. I have been looking at the skills needed to become a successful performer and these are the skills I have come up with so far.

TEAM WORKING
As a performer you will constantly have to work with people whether those people are your band, sound engineers, producers, management or stage crew. You must be able to put the work in and gain your team's respect as well as respecting them in return in order to avoid conflict and keep the peace. It also helps to have a good relationship with your team in order to make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.

LEADERSHIP
It is helpful to be able to have the initiative to take charge of a situation when nobody else is willing to do so. The ability to motivate people is also a useful trait when moral is low.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
When you are constantly working with other people it is important that you are able to relate to them, feel comfortable with them, get on with them and sense how they are feeling. This includes being able to communicate with as well as listen to people.

CULTURAL AWARENESS
As a performer you will have to meet a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds as well as different countries. You may even have the chance to perform in different countries. It is important to be aware of other cultures, religions and traditions so that you do not offend anybody by accidentally saying or doing something that is against their beliefs or ways.

PROBLEM SOLVING
The ability to calmly and effectively solve a problem when it arises is a great trait to have as a performer especially if you are being watched and judged by an audience.

FLEXIBILITY/ADAPTABILITY
Being able to respond to change or an issue is important as a performer for example if there was an accident on stage or if a string on your guitar snapped.

COMMITMENT
Commitment is a very important attribute to have as a performer as many other people are relying on you to get the job done. You should be committed to what you have to do and prioritise it over other less important engagements.

CONFIDENCE/HIGH PERFORMANCE ABILITY
A performer must be very confident in his/her skills. They can't afford to let nerves get the better of them especially if people are paying to come and see them play. They should also be very good at what they do which will also help their confidence as well as boost the number of people who enjoy their music.

SELF PROMOTION AND NETWORKING
In order to get new gigs, make new contacts and become more successful it is important for a performer to be able to promote themselves and be able to talk to strangers and make friends with important people. The more people who know about you the better.

STAGECRAFT
A performer should be interesting to watch on stage and should have a good stage presence otherwise people will just get bored watching them.

BASIC EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE
Although they will have help from sound engineers and stage crew it is useful for a performer to have a good basic knowledge of equipment such as microphones, amps, leads etc.. This will help them to understand what is going on when there is a technical fault and maybe even be able to fix it.

All of these skills will help any performer become successful, respected and prosperous within the music industry.