How To Own The Room
Everyone has the potential to be an irresistible, room-captivating rockstar- even if they don’t know it yet. I recently saw the beautiful and talented Jazz singer, Ariana Savalas, perform and what I found inspiring about her is that she knows how to captivate and own her audience, flawlessly. Her style and charm is very reminiscent of the former days of sophisticated stardom; channeling the charming, sultry and witty, glamorously clad legends of the old hollywood era. What better way to learn how to 'own the room’ than from the woman who could enter a room, without saying a word, and still steal the hearts of everyone in her presence? Follow these 6 tips, from Ariana herself, on becoming a room-captivating maven.
1. Start small: Working with smaller crowds allows for you to really stand out amongst those around you. You are in turn allowed to introduce yourself (always use your first and last name), and be able to converse in a well-versed manner, all of which all sets the stage for people to know and remember who you are.
2. Slowly expand your crowd: Ariana started performing in front of family and close friends during her formative years. In other words, she had a tremendous amount of practice before she was comfortable performing in front of larger crowds. Once you become comfortable with practicing in smaller groups, you can transition into working with large ones. By starting small, you’ll notice how much more comfortable you’ll become in front of larger groups.
3. Practice makes perfect: You are certainly not going to be great at owning the room first time around (which is why tip no. 2 is so important). You might get nervous, fumble your words, or not know what to say… Just remember to breathe and be yourself. If your first time out doesn’t go as expected, try again! Practice really does make perfect and you’ll be confident, owning the room in no time.
4. Be well rested and focused: No one has ever owned a room when they’re looking and acting as if they just rolled out of bed. If you are planning on attending an event, be sure to rest well, drink plenty of water, and keep your head clear to remain completely focused and in the moment.Basically don't plan a wild girls night out ( or girls night in, for that matter) when you have a big company presentation at 9 am the next morning.
5. Know your crowd: Ariana knows how to reads her audience well. She states, “It’s like a first date - you try to find out their background, room atmosphere so that you can know whether to amp up the jokes or tone it down.” This is an excellent tid-bit of advice. Even if you have never met the people who surround you, you can learn a great deal about them. A great way to do this is by watching the conversation-styles and listening to the topics being discussed by those around you, prior to diving into a conversation. Learn your audience, then you can take them by storm!
6. Give credit where credit is due: This is particularly important if you are sharing the stage with others (your friends or partner perhaps). “You want them to help you out and giving you their best,” says Ariana. Be each others support system and own the room together. Be prepared, the results may turn out even better than expected!
Pretty simple, right? Now that you have the 6 steps necessary to 'own the room' and and engage an audience, put them to use! You’ll be able to successfully mingle and make new connections, whether for work or play. The benefits to learning to own the room are essentially endless!Now if only I can rock a rocking animal print dress and 6 inch heels to my next meeting.
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Great tips, Heidi! Whenever I am invited to speak in some events, like lunch conferences, I always get the nerves and can’t get steady. I always pace the room, muttering nonsense and when I am speaking, I falter. I really get nervous around people, so I never had a good experience owning a room or captivating an audience. It’s nice to get this rectified.
I’ve watched Ariana performed before, too. She’s great, she really knows how to make her audience feel at home and don’t feel bored at all!
Wow, tips from Arianna herself! Thanks so much!
I love these tips Heidi, it will help me overcome my fear of big crowds 🙂 THanks!
Developing and maintaining sage presence is really a difficult task, especially when you got delicate audiences and nosy, snobbish patrons. I hope I could do and accomplish this feat without any nerves inside me.
I’d be really ecstatic if I could just get my audience’s attention even just by a minute. Oh my, I really am one of those who have stage fright, how much more can I captivate them if I am already nervous walking up the steps to the podium. But what my mentor always tells me, this too shall pass, so I am also taking note of these six steps you mentioned to be able to own the room.
Thank you so much, Heidi!
Thanks for sharing these tips. God knows how badly I need these in my life to help me in getting and capturing the interest of my audience.
Great article. Love how you show Arianna engaging with the audience.
Just came across your blog and I love the design but fyi on my safari screen most of your images are overlapping.
These are awesome tips. Actually, these do not only apply to a roomful of audience. Even if you are just speaking with 1 or two people, you should have this confidence and ability to talk to them so that you can own their attention and would stay in a conversations. Just my two cents.
I would gladly recommend this when you have to talk or speak in conferences or business meetings,
Thank you for all these wonderfully helpful tips!
I’m always grateful for tips like this, very helpful especially when you need to get the attention of everybody while on an event. Thanks!
Admittedly, I’m quite shy and nervous when meeting with people in closed quarters. Sometimes I feel I can’t breathe. I do not want to own the room, I want to escape it. But I know I must overcome this, so now I’ve started prepping and preparing myself for the inevitable. I make sure I am well-rested before a speaking engagement. I also start practicing in front of my family, to still the nerves. Thanks for sharing these tips!
Thank you for sharing this experience and for the brilliant tips!
Engaging a roomful of audience is never easy for me, so owning the entire room might just make me meltdown. I would have to take note of these steps to overcome whatever I feel when I face people in a crowded room.
I know some celebrities who could easily captivate their audience once they entered the room. No talks necessary. I wish I could be like that, too. Not that I’m a celebrity, but I usually do some speech and conferences and sometimes, I feel like no one’s listening to me when I talk. I’d gladly trade places with anyone who could keep the audience interested.
Those are really great tips. I always wondered what it takes for me to be able to hold a room captive but I never get the chance because I always chicken out when an opportunity is passed on to me.
I would love to have that power, that confidence, that vigor, in order to get an audience listen to me even for just a few seconds. Thanks for this tips!
If I were to do this, I am sure I’ll be all over the place and the audience might just throw stones at me while laughing. I need to make sure I am confident and take note of all these tips you shared.
Owning a room full of interested patrons is definitely not an easy feat. In my experience, it’s a gift or a talent if you can maintain proper decorum and hold the audience attention even for just 15 minutes. If they’re still laughing with you after that, then you’re a hit!
It actually takes a lot of guts and confidence to be able to stand in front of a crowd. But getting them interested with you and being able to keep them on their toes until your spiel ends, now that’s what I call talent.
Confidence is definitely the key factor to establish stage presence. I try as hard as possible to be confident when I go in front of a crowd. So far, based on the feedback I get from my audience, I can deliver a speech well enough to grab their attention.
I like her, I’ve actually seen her perform too. Although my first reason why I liked her was because we had the same first names. But actually, she is a force when she’s onstage. No dull moments whatsoever the moment she enters the room and when she leaves it.. She’s really talented!
I hope I could get these steps on my head when it’s time for m to perform in front of a crowd. I’m slated to do some talking in a press event about climate change for a conference this coming August. I’ve got nerves all over!
Thanks for the tips. I can’t say i’m lucky because I never experienced talking or performing onstage (except when I was in 2nd grade, I guess). What I’m saying is, these tips and steps to owning a room would definitely come in handy once I get the chance to cater to an audience in the near future.
I like those tips, very realistic and easy to follow. I will definitely follow these so I can be ready when it’s my time to talk to an audience. Thank you for sharing Ariana’s tips!
I like all these tips, very easy to follow and truthful. I will very much benefit from the tips, so thank you.
If and when I’ll be having this chance to sing, or even just talk in front of a crowd or just a couple of strangers, I must remember these tips and soon prep up and get ready to go!
This are great communication & entertainment tips! Thanks for this wonderful article!
So far, all the intimate celebrity concerts I’ve been to have captured my interest the moment they walk on the stage. Never seen them having stage fright jitters. Me, I think it will take me years before I overcome my fear.
Pretty simple? Oh no, I don’t think so… it’s easier said than done, I think.. or maybe it’s just me, thinking negatively, out loud.
Great tips, so grateful to have read this.
I saw Arianna perform before and she was great, everyone had a blast with her singing prowess. If I can possess something like confidence and talent, maybe I can also own a room and be a sensation one day 🙂
Gotta admire someone who could hold the attention of a roomful of people. I wish I had the same confidence they possess.
I agree with starting from small crowd, that is good and sound advice. It gives you enough space for yourself and your audience to be intimate and have more personal contact.
I wonder if I could pull this off, I am quite a shy type, so it would be really a big challenge for me to be able to own a room and captivate an audience.
Yes!! Become a “room-captivating maven”
These are great tips! I need to have a lot of self confidence and self esteem to be able to face an audience!
Owning a room… oh no I I don’t think I can ever do that, I can’t even stay on one myself. These are great tips, by the way, a lot of my friends who are really good speakers will benefit from this.
I have stage fright, I don’t think I can manage facing even just 10 people as my audience, much more a crowd. Thanks for the tips though. Who knows, I might just be able to overcome this fear really soon?
I’ve seen this lady performed and she really own the stage, all eyes are trained on her, captivating and outstanding!
I wish I’d be able to do this. I am, admittedly, a very shy person, but I can be outgoing and proactive when needed. I think I better start by talking to myself in front of the mirror, and then next, talk in front of my young nieces and nephews. That would help, right?
I’ve seen Arianna perform onstage and I am always left mindblown and breathless because of her superb performance. If only I got her confidence and looks and figure..
I’m grateful for this post, you just boosted up my confidence. I have long been afraid of crowds and all, but I think it’s time to step up and face the music, isn’t it?
Thank you so much for these great tips. I sure need this boost, I’m slated for a storycon next week, my first time, and I’m already getting the nerves…
Arianna is a girl on fire whenever she’s onstage. I love her confidence and I admire her talent!
She’s so classy and elegant, every head would surely turn on her once she gets onstage. I like to have that confidence too.
Arianna is such a force to reckon with… I was able to watch one of her performances and it was intense!