What a conductor actually does on stage
 

He conducts.

"Percussion needs clarity from a conductor. They need to know where to hit something."

That made me chuckle. Also, I have suggestions.

Your hands must get tired conducting I tell ya!!

poor conductors... the laymen will never understand that the work they do is behind the scenes, making all of the musical decisions and getting the orchestra to actually implement them. Most people genuinely assume they just wave their arms around to keep time for the players