Coaching for Performance
„There is no such thing as removing the feeling of nervousness. The good news is: there is such a thing as feeling nervous, confident, receptive and communicative all at once - and being totally at ease with yourself.“
This is the response I typically give to people who ask me: “Why, after all these years, am I still nervous?”
Poetic Wrap-Up at TedX
Storytelling at Athens Opera House
Are you a performer, public speaker or just looking to expand your stage presence?
Do you recognise one of the following?
You are tired of going into ‘performer mode’ and feeling detached.
You are unable to hold your body in front of an audience in a fully relaxed way.
You struggle to project your voice and still sound like yourself.
You want to respond to your audience in the moment, put pressure on yourself, and then freeze.
I can help.
At the heart of everything I do lies improvisation. Or as I call it, the ability to translate what is happening inside and outside the body simultaneously.
The willingness to be there as yourself, nerves included, is the gateway to extraordinary stage presence.
I have worked in fields such as experimental theatre, cabaret, jazz music, spoken word, hosting and ensemble. I have performed for audiences as small as one and as large as several thousand people.
Eventually I extracted three core performance principles I was employing every time, that contribute to a confident and genuine presence on any stage.
They are: Body-Sense, Choice, Improvisation. Working through these three principles will help you rediscover the vulnerable body, mind and heart that are needed to excel beyond your point of stuckness. The awesome by-product is leaving the stage energized instead of depleted.
„If over 20 years of experience on stages taught me one thing it is this - I must be willing to be fully present and potentially fuck things up.
– Margo van de Linde
What my clients say
„What was special to me about working with Margo was that she shared about her own experiences of nervousness as a performer.
It helped me accept my own sensations when speaking in front of others. She helped me look at my goals as something possible to reach.
I completed the coaching with new perspectives and tools that I can keep using to further improve my skills.”
– Romy R. Schowerth, novelist and script writer.
„I went to Margo looking for a teacher to help me develop my stage and hosting techniques.
She has an immense well of knowledge but just as important she’s a great teacher and a lovely person!
I totally recommend her to anyone interested in any type of public performance.
– Jennifer Hopelezz, Mother of the House of Hopelezz & Dragtivist
„Margo makes you feel at ease and welcome from the first second you meet her.
I felt truly supported by her and was surprised by what I was able to produce on stage. Working with her is incredibly fun and, at the right moments, challenging.
Margo is an absolute expert, yet is able to translate her knowledge into words that anyone can understand.”
– Jakob Eichhorn, C.E.O. of Business Outlaws and notorious explorer.
Three Core Principles
Body-Sense
Learn how to be present and comfortable with sensations of tension and ease, in order to transcend them. Have desire as your guiding force rather than an idea of what you ‘should’ do. Experience the body from within and without. Allow your audience to experience your true physical presence, instead of a created one.
Choice
Find a balance between creating a fluid presence and making focused decisions. Experience - through writing and dropping the script - how to be prepared and yet comfortable with adapting to your audience’s needs. Learn how to create anchor points for yourself as a framework for improvisation.
Improvisation
Learn techniques that will greatly alter your ways of accessing the imagination (both in preparation and live). Engage in confrontation with the rigid thought structures you have become used to and re-wire them. Free up the space for play which leads to a liberated body, mind and spirit. Childs-play is worth more than we know.
Book a session.
If you are a performer or a public speaker or you simply want to improve you stage presence, don’t hesitate to book a free call with me.
Where it all happens.
I am the ‘creativity curator’ of the Marmalade, a studio I own and run since 2020. Anyone based in Amsterdam will recognise it’s iconic wall, featuring the ‘Super Nurse’ graffiti. She’s a great gateway to this creative space, housed inside an old ship’s ramp in the NDSM area.
I want you to feel at home and provoked to play at the same time!
Of course, these days, we are not aways able to meet each other in person, therefore I currently also offer coaching online.
