The Art of the Soloperformer [Paperback]

Steve Rapson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2000

A practical guide for performers and speakers. How to connect with an audience. How to do your best under pressure. How to structure your set or speech. Learn to do what every pro does, and to not do what every amateur does.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Don't do another gig until you read Steve's book. -- Christine Lavin

Even you never want to set foot on stage, Rapson's witty style is a great read. He's the real deal and has an instant classic in the field. -- Bill FitzPatrick, success.org

The funniest and best book I have ever read on this subject. -- Steve Friedman, Melvillepark.com

From the Publisher

The American Success Institute is proud to publish The Art of the Solo Performer by Steve Rapson. He has packed the wisdom of the ages into 160 pages. He is my media and speech coach. Whenever I do what he says, I succeed. If I lapse into my old habits, he is there to tell me what for. The book's Q&A format is the next best thing to having Steve personally work with you. It is a fast refreshing read that you will go back to many times--especially before your next big performance.

Bill FitzPatrick, Executive Director

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: American Success Institute (August 30, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 1884864147
• ISBN-13: 978-1884864148
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nobody wishes on their death bed they had spent more time at the office. Or, in Steve's case, any time at the office. After life in corporate America he is now an author, recording artist, songwriter, and performing musician.

Steve's debut CD, Christmas Guitar, is sold around the world. He has followed up with five more CD's: Romantic Guitar, Half Irish Guitar, Patriotic Guitar, and Original Guitar, each with a companion book of transcriptions. A Little Bit of Crow features Steve's song writing and is the only CD on which he sings. He collaborated with Deborah Rocha to create Breeze a CD of Jazz and Samba. With poet Cheryl Perreault he provided original solo guitar accompaniment to her spoken word pieces for her debut CD On Ants, Sandwiches, and The Meaning Of It All.

As a producer and performance coach, Steve works with songwriters and performers and public speakers of all kinds. His approach to stage work has helped further the careers of many new artists including Kevin So, Mary Gauthier, Ellen Schmidt, British singer/songwriter Paul Chi, and German composer/pianist Ivo Wiesner.

He is communications consultant to The American Success Institute in Natick, Massachusetts. The Art of the Soloperformer is his first book.

Steve holds a Masters Degree in Communication Management from Simmons College. He lives in Quincy, Massachusetts with Rosemary, his wife of thirty plus years--they married young, it wa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read, January 2, 2001

By 

kyle shiver (boston ma usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Soloperformer (Paperback)

kyle shiver/ performing songwriter

while reading this book for the first time, i began to 1)have much more confidence on stage 2)hold the attention of the audience like never before 3)get much much more applause than ever before 4)more people signed up on my mailing list and i sold more cd's

this book is a simple guide filled with rules and tips of the trade. the title of each chapter is a question("what goes into a great press kit?" /"how do i get publicity?"/"should i accept requests?") and each question is answered and most times discussed and the answer ALWAYS comes from experience. i love it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, honest and educational, March 26, 2008

By 

Jack Smith (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Soloperformer (Paperback)

I am a professional trainer who follows the literature in the presentation field.

I am also skeptical of the advice you find in "how-to" books on presentations. The material is either too academic lacking life experience, self-serving from an author on an ego-trip or simply not relevant to my experiences as a trainer.

Steve Rapson's book is entertaining, honest and educational. Steve's unusual combination of professional experiences in the corporate world and as an entertainer produce valuable insights and advice for all trainers or presenters.

The Art of the Soloperformer is the best book I have read in the field.

Jack Smith

The Smith Group

"Training for Public Organizations"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading and Entertaining at the Same Time, July 12, 2004

By 

Craig Sonnenfeld (Brookline, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Soloperformer (Paperback)

This is an excellent book for any solo performer or public speaker. The author provides countless practical tips for the solo musician including advice on copyrights, recording, dealing with managers and agents, and playing to an audience. Also great tips for anyone who speaks publicly. There are many humorous stories about the author's own performing and speaking experiences and lessons that he has learned from them.
It was very helpful for me personally to read about how to put into perspective the experiences of having both great nights where you are connecting with an audience and also nights when you are just not connecting at all.
I would recommend this book for anyone who performs as a solo act or in a band, or for anyone who regularly gives presentations to corporations or to the public.