As a vocal coach, I always ask my students about the “character” they’ve created for the song they are about to sing. Each and every song is its own story and demands its own character to communicate its unique message. The best advice I can give my voice students or any performer is to “take yourself out of the equation” and focus 100% of your energy on the message of the song. This does a few things: 1) it helps with nerves as it allows you to stop thinking about yourself and 2) it puts you squarely into the shoes of the song writer and enables you to deliver the intent of the song.
Singers need to create a history for their character – WHO are you? Next, they need to imagine the scenario where they are singing this song. If you create a specific space in your mind, it will communicate clearly to your audience – WHERE are you? Last, are you singing this song to another person? A group of people? Alone in your room? There has to be a heightened emotional state and reason that causes you to sing - WHY are you?
So many singers get caught up in the act of simply learning the tune, words and phrasing of a song. Doing this type of character background work first will deepen your performance and lead to a more memorable experience for your audience.