The karaoke microphone is not without its faults. If you are too far away, it won't even pick up your voice. If you are too close, it picks up every hiss, click, jaw-snap, or swallow you make, and projects them out to your audience for all to hear. And that's not all! Crowding the microphone with your mouth can also cause it to pop, screech, or produce that dreaded feedback. The distance techniques take a little practice to perfect, but soon they will come as second nature to you.

First of all, a good distance to be from the karaoke microphone when your voice is soft to normal is one inch. This will seem like you are right on top of it, and you are, but you don't want to ever touch it with your lips. You might get shocked! As the volume of your song gets louder, move the microphone away. In the softer parts of the song, move it back closer to your mouth again. Moving the microphone in this way is like your volume knob. Moving it farther away turns down your volume. Moving it closer turns up your volume.

If your karaoke microphone is on a stand while you are singing, instead of moving the mic closer and farther from your mouth, you move your body. The way to make this look natural is to stand with one foot slightly in front of the other. Then, in the soft parts of the song, just lean forward a bit more onto your front foot. In the louder parts, move backward a bit onto your back foot.

It's also important for your karaoke microphone to be at a level where you never have to look down or sing down into it. Stand up straight but relaxed. When you are hunched, bent, or even tense, instead of the sound waves of your song flowing out to the audience, they will just bounce around in your throat and die quickly away.

Where should you point the karaoke microphone? Always point it toward your mouth. Never point it toward a speaker or a stage monitor, or you will be rewarded with some loud feedback.

Another thing that causes feedback is curling your hand around the top of the microphone.

There are a couple of things, also, that may seem obvious, but merit your attention. When you first get up onto the stage, notice where the microphone cords go across the floor. You don't want to find yourself tripping on the cord right during the most exciting part of your song!

And lastly, be sure you don't drop or bang the microphone.

Practice following these tips, and soon you will be up on stage handling your karaoke microphone like a celebrity singer!