MICROPHONE TECHNIQUE - HOW TO USE A MICROPHONE PROPERLY

• Never cup the mic - not even if you do RAPs - it's not "cool"! With most modern mics, cupping them is asking for feedback.
• Never hold the mic by the windscreen (or any part of the windscreen) and put the thumb on top of it. You can't expect the mic to pick up good sound while your thumb is blocking it. Always hold the mic by its body.
• Never point the mic at the monitors, and if you venture down to the audience, put yourself between the main PA speakers and the mic.
• Sing with the mic pointing directly into your mouth at about 1-2 inches away at most. Do not point the mic directly upwards (toward the ceiling) from below your chin as most clueless [public] speakers do. Most handheld mics used for bands and singers are not condenser mics; therefore, they don't pick up sound from a distance too well.
• Take the mic away from your mouth when you scream. Vary the distance as a way of keeping even volume levels between the very soft/very loud passages.
• Return the mic to its stand after you finished your number. Never put it anywhere else but the mic stand - not the guitar amp, not the floor, not the table, not the music stand... blah, blah, blah...
• Do not switch off the cordless mic by yourself and leave it to the next singer to switch it back on, specially when the next singer expects it to be already on the instant he/she grabs it. Either put it back on the mic stand or hand it back to the stage technician if you cross his path on stage. On the same token, ALWAYS check for "ON" status of the mic BEFORE talking or singing into it.
• Never, never, never try to cover up your mistakes by blaming that you can't hear yourself on the monitors. If you can't hear yourself, let the monitor engineer know right away, do not wait until you forget a word in a song to tell him.
• Show up for the soundcheck and come to the show on time. Do not force the sound engineers to do the soundcheck for you on the fly or on your first song and then complain that the mic or the sound was not to your taste.
• Last but not least, at the end of the show, thank your sound crew, and if you're a guest singer, thank the band as well. Most self-respected engineers and sound crew work very hard for very little money at a very thankless job to make you sound as best as possible. Our job is to deliver a great sound for you, and the better your performance and attitude are, the more power to you. .