Performance Tips

Performance Tips

If your team is asked to perform in public it’s worth thinking about how you present your group to the audience - first impressions count!

  • Have a tidy table (get rid of bags, bits of paper, water bottles, sweets, pencils etc)
  • If your ringers are going to walk onto the stage, have them arranged in the order they will stand at the table – with the person who has to walk the furthest, going on first
  • If possible, leave bags and personal possessions off stage
  • Ask your ringers, when they get to the table, to stand quietly (avoid chattering)
  • It’s likely that you will need to say a few words between pieces, while the ringers sort their bells out.  (It’s usual for the team leader to do it but if you have known good speaker in the team, they could do the job as long as someone else prepares their bells).  Whoever does it:
  1. Speak clearly and slowly, making sure those at the back can hear you
  2. Make sure you know whereabouts in the programme you need to talk – and where you need to talk for a bit longer to allow the ringers time to sort out their bells.
  3. Don’t try to cover everything all at once; between pieces you can talk about various topics including - the music you have just rung (or are about to ring); its notation (eg whether it is staff or numbers); the handbells or chimes/Belleplates®  that you are using; their history; how they ring and (everyone wants to know) – their cost
  4. Handbell ringing generally, its roots and the role of HRGB
  5. The members of the team, where they come from and their dedication.  If someone has a particularly difficult passage – single them out for special acknowledgement by the audience
  6. If you wear gloves, explain why
  7. Remember that as far as handbell ringing is concerned, you are the expert in the room; try to infect the audience with your own knowledge and enthusiasm
  8. Only speak for the necessary time, do not go on and on and…, your ringers will lose their concentration, your programme will overrun and you will undoubtedly lose the interest of the audience.
  9. Make yourself smile, especially at the beginning. By smiling you are setting a tone that will influence the audience. Make eye contact with several members of the audience, being careful not to focus in just one direction.
  10. Give an impression of spontaneity.  If you need notes, put them on small cards with key words. Tie them together in one corner so you don’t drop them
  • At the end of your performance, don’t chatter; stand quietly, acknowledge any applause with a bow and wait for your leader to take the group off stage – nothing looks worse at the end of a concert than ringers chatting, closing music books and generally milling about while the audience is still present!