There is no performance without an audience. As singers, we are used to reaching out to fellow singers and artists, but often we are still uncomfortable with advertising our work to the general public. It can feel selfish to bombard your friends' inboxes with email ads for your next show, to include a ticket link in every other Facebook post, or to ask your family repeatedly to pay money to hear you sing for the umpteenth time. It would be so much easier if some nameless advertising manager could post the ads and bug your loved ones for you. However, most working singers do not have this luxury. We are our own biggest advocates, and if we do not publicize our performances ourselves, we cannot count on audiences to show up. Next time you have to self-promote an event, take these steps to share your work efficiently, effectively, and without shame.

Step 1: Recognize that self-promotion is necessary

Yes, a certain component of our music and our art is for ourselves. If we didn't have that personal connection, there would be no need for us to produce art. On the other hand, we produce art to share messages we believe are vital for others to hear. The next time you feel uncomfortable self-publicizing an upcoming recital or production, think about why you decided to put on or be a part of a public performance in the first place. There was something in your chosen repertoire that made you want to share it with the world, rather than just sing it to yourself at your piano. We spend lifetimes developing ourselves as artists and professionals to show up on opening night ready to hit the stage and bring a new story to life, but we often forget there is another side to this artistic exchange, a vital component to our performances that we rely on for support, funding, and artistic impact. Performances are meant to be communal experiences, meaning that you must establish a community of artists and viewers before you step foot on the stage. 

Step 2: Talk to Your Family and Friends

If you are a working singer, you likely have a lot of plates to juggle, leaving barely enough time to personally prepare for your upcoming gigs and much less time to prepare others for your gigs. Start in a familiar place with your friends and family. Yes, they have heard the call to action throughout your performing career, and yes, you have likely asked for their time and support more times than you can count. Luckily, these are the people in your corner. The loved ones who appear in the audience show after show are there because they care for you and want to see you succeed. Don't feel shy about telling them where and how they can support you again with a personalized email, text, or phone call. If you take the time to reach out to your corner, they will be there in the crowd when you need them the most.

Step 3: Create a Public Event

So now you've emailed your best friend from college, called your grandma, and texted your siblings. How do you engage your acquaintances? A personal email might feel pushy when directed at someone you don't know too well, especially if they haven't seen you perform before. For crowds like these, a Facebook event invite can be a very effective method of getting the word out. Through Facebook events, you can publicize the time, place, and description of your performance and invite as many of your Facebook friends as you want. Invited friends will have the option to mark "going" or "interested" without committing to coming or purchasing a ticket, removing any immediate pressure from the audience. Any update you post will be sent to everyone who has responded to the event. Facebook also automatically sends reminders leading up to the big day, taking a large chunk of the advertising work off of your plate. Additionally, you can use the event to get an approximate gauge of your audience size based on responses and easily communicate any logistic changes to the performance.

Step 4: Think About Your Target Audience

Part of self-promotion also involves reaching out to people who don't already know you, and this step is often the trickiest part. How do you market yourself as a performing product to a group of strangers? Think back to the reasoning behind your performance. What message are you trying to share, and what audience are you trying to share it with? Use this message as a guideline for engaging outside groups. If you want to put on a recital focused on bringing classical music to families with young children, send details about your event to schools in the area. If your newest opera focuses on female empowerment, share the information with local womens organizations and clubs. That performance of the Messiah you're singing could be of great interest to the community of the church on your corner, and the summer stock musical you're starring in could be a fun outing for the local community theater company. It's often easy to consider the fulfillment we receive from creating art, but it's important to remember that art is also a service we have the opportunity to share with complete strangers in our communities. A simple email with information about what your show is, when it's happening, and why it's of interest to a group of people goes a long way in engaging them with your work.

Step 5: Promote Online and In-Person

Finally, it's important to have fun with self-promotion. Here, social media can really help. A backstage selfie with your co-star looks cute on your Instagram, but it is also a good way to remind your followers about your upcoming opening night. You can collaborate with your fellow performers in your social media pushes as well by sharing each others' promotional posts, giving each account more individual views and making the circle of awareness surrounding the performance even larger. Make sure to also tag photographers and creative teams when you post production stills to share the promotional push and give credit where credit is due. Post your cast pictures, your production pictures, and even your pre-show ritual pictures, whatever you can do to get the word out to the world. To avoid "spamming" your social media accounts, keep yourself to a guideline of three posts per week on a social media platform regarding your upcoming show, as long as the content is varied. If you only have content for one or two good promotional posts, be selective about when you post them, as the same advertisement for a show reposted more than twice starts to look like spam.

Of course, face-to-face promotion is vital, as word of mouth is very important for growing an audience. Practice your elevator pitch, a short 45-60 second description about what your show is and why you're passionate about it. A quick, practiced pitch will allow you to bring up your work in conversation without feeling like you're dominating the conversation.

So please, continue to dedicate hours to your music. Study your text, get your rest, and do your pre-show ritual, if you have one. Show up on time, collaborate with your fellow artists, and arrive on stage ready to embody your art. Do all of this, but do not forget about the people who will be watching you work. Do not forget to reach out to those people in the audience before you step foot on the set, because they need your art just as much as you do.