Directors or musicians: Download this free Showmanship Shortcuts PDF for sharing with your handbell choir! Print this 2 page guide on both sides of one page for an easy handout and start working on improving your handbell choir’s showmanship. You may print this version for free!

Possible Motivations for Expressiveness:

Search your feelings. Give each potential motivation a number from 1 to 10.

Self – Better Musicianship through:

• Personal Growth and Development: Challenge oneself and grow by embracing new experiences.
• Building Confidence: Increase self-confidence and self-esteem by pushing past comfort zones.
• Sense of Achievement: Satisfaction from navigating challenges and pushing limits.
• Professional Advancement: Enhance skills and presence for professional growth and/or recognition.
• Exploration of Identity: Discover personal identity through expressive acts.
• Self-Expression: Authentically express identity, emotions, and creativity.

Connection – Musical Service through:

• Connection with Others: Foster meaningful relationships through shared emotional experiences.
• Communication and Storytelling: Effectively communicate narratives and stories.
• Inspiring Others: Inspire and motivate others, whether you serve as a role model or a vessel.
• Social Impact: Make a positive impact on society and advocate for social causes.
• Educational Outreach: Teach and mentor others, helping them develop their own expressive skills.
• Community Building: Use performances to bring people together and strengthen community bonds.

Emotion – Musical Enjoyment through:

• Joy: Enjoyment and fulfillment from performing and sharing talents.
• Cathartic Release: Therapeutic value of expressing and releasing pent-up emotions.
• Escape and Entertainment: Escape routine or stress through immersive performances.
• Challenge and Adventure: Embrace new challenges and adventurous aspects of performance.
• Spiritual or Emotional Connection: Seek spiritual or emotional fulfillment through performances.
• Creative Expression: Channel creativity and artistic vision into performances for personal and audience enjoyment

MORE Example showmanship technical concepts

Introduce one of these techniques each week near the end of rehearsal and practice it. Explain what you will practice at rehearsal, and what can be practiced at home and on the go. At the next practice review your progress and continue practicing the concept before introducing a different concept. You could also apply the same concept to different songs each rehearsal.

	At Rehearsal	On the Go	At Home
1	Visualize a song: Find what mood(s) you want to portray. Discuss what you might do as a group, or whether each person will individually perform the mood of the song.	Visualize a song: Find what mood(s) you want to portray. Be ready to discuss potential techniques to portray the mood.	Visualize a song: Find what mood(s) you want to portray. Be ready to discuss potential techniques to portray the mood.
2	Posture: Stand with one foot further forward than the other instead of both feet side by side.	Think about posture: Why will you stand a certain way? How should the audience perceive you?	Standing posture: In front of a mirror, practice hunching over vs. standing tall. What might it look like from the director’s perspective?
3	Body language: What is the desired look? Practice gestures, turning pages, standing & sitting, walking on & off, changing positions, picking up and putting down bells, breathing techniques, coordinated ducking down and standing tall, etc.	Envision: Why are you going to act the way you will act when performing?  How will the audience perceive your body language? How will you compare to the rest of the ensemble?	In front of a mirror:  Practice desired body language. What can you enjoy doing? This is not about what your body looks like, but what you do with your body, and why.
4	Smile while playing: Visualize something that helps you portray the right mood.	Smile while driving: Practice changing your mood when you are distracted.	Smile in the mirror:  Practice different types of musical moods.
5	Who has the melody? Practice knowing which notes are part of the melody (or should be the focus for the audience). Make those notes physically stand out. For example: ring these bells higher than other bells.	Listen to songs:  Practice hearing different instruments, melodies, harmonies and other parts.  Visualize how a soloist might perform the melody.	Watch some performances:  Look for different instruments, melodies, harmonies and other parts. How do the soloists perform their parts?
6	Watch the director:  Practice looking up once per measure.  How far ahead in each measure can you memorize so you can look up?	Think about watching the director: Although this currently may be very difficult for you, what does it look like from the audience’s perspective if you only look at your music?	Brainstorm: What can you practice to improve your ability to watch the director? When you aren’t playing, what can you do to make sure you don’t get lost?
7	Audience Interaction: Rehearse interacting with an imaginary audience, including making eye contact, acknowledging applause, and speaking briefly about the music before or after performing.	Imagine your performance: In what way will you interact with the audience? This includes thinking through your interactions with the director and others in your group.	Create a mock performance space: Practice making eye contact with imaginary audience members, acknowledging applause, etc. Extra credit: Record yourself to evaluate and refine your approach
8	Character Development: Develop a character or persona for each piece of music, embodying the emotions and story behind the piece through your movements and expressions.	Practice: How would your character interact with others in normal day to day situations?	Backstory: Come up with a short character description or backstory for a piece of music. Practice embodying this character while performing, focusing on conveying their emotions and story through your expressions and movements.
9	Storytelling Session: Tell the story of the music verbally before playing it. Translate that narrative into your performance through expressive movements, gestures and facial expressions.	Remember the song or the composer: think about what you know of the song(s) you will play.	Research a piece: See if you can find out information about the composer’s motivation for writing the music. If the music has lyrics, study the words to understand the meaning of the song.
10	Group empathy: Look at those who you make music with in a new light. What hidden struggles might they be facing? How can you improve your relationship with them?	Audience Empathy: imagine a backstory for various imaginary audience members and how they might be affected by a song.	Practice empathy with those around you on understanding their sorrows, heartaches, and difficulties.