You’ve Got 15 Minutes to Wow Them

by Tom Jackson

Here’s what’s happened: you’ve got 15 minutes to play because you’re just before the speaker, or you’re at a festival where that’s all the time they’ve given you, or maybe you’re opening for someone…

So what do you do? How do you “wow” your audience in those few minutes?

I can tell you what you don’t do! Don’t think like every other artist and say to yourself “how many songs can I cram into 15 minutes?” Big mistake.

Let me tell you a story…

(By the way, the DVD I’m talking about at the end of that video is All Roads Lead to the Stage DVD #2, Turn It Up to 11. The first part of that DVD is essential for every artist – it tells you how to put together the perfect set list. The second part of the DVD tells you how to put together a short set.)

When you’ve been asked to play for 15 or 20 minutes, there is a 2-step process for making your set list decision:

1. Ask yourself what kind of event it is. What’s the psychology of the audience? The who, what, where, when of the concert is going to help us decide what moments we choose (notice I didn’t say “what songs”).

2. Choose the moments you want to create for your audience. You’ll still need to start with an intro moment; and you’ll need a closer. The moment or moments in between will depend on who your audience is.

Too many artists blow their opportunity by thinking in terms of “songs” instead of “moments on stage.”

Whether you have a band, or you’re a singer/songwriter, or even a track artist (get some track editing done so YOU’RE in control) – it’s about giving your audience what they came for. And they didn’t come to hear songs.