Ah, yes, Guest, I remember Opor Nockity well!

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"9. Never introduce a song by saying something like "heres one I wrote this afernoon" or similar. " Um, yeah. LOL

Most of the advice here is great advice for all performers. But as Guest's last post points out, some of it doesn't apply to all singer-songwriters.

In fact, the thread title, when followed by some of the first pieces of advice, highlights a kind of pet peeve of mine:
a) the use of the term "singer-songwriter" to apply to people whose primary skill is as an INTRUMENTALIST
and
b) the assumption that a "singer-songwriter" MUST play an instrument or (worse assumption) play it well enough as a lead instrument to sustain a performance with instrumental breaks.

I recall Emmylou Harris, just to name one, proudly saying that she considers herself a very good rhythm guitarist but that she has never sought to be a lead guitarist. Now, Emmylou has a whole band backing her up, but I would hate to think artists like Emmylou would be discouraged from performing if they had to sing their songs a cappella or with a simple rhythm guitar background.

I would add that sometimes the "star" of a song is neither its lyrics nor its fancy instrumentals but its MELODY.   And when a melody is instantly memorable and catchy, I don't think the audience cares that they've never heard it before. (In fact, they will probably think they have!)

But I do agree with most of the points that have been made here.