Jacobsen, Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery and elocutionist Ida Simpson-Serven, disciples of François Delsarte, influenced him and inspired his growing interest in dance and movement.

Wayburn’s choreography was based on five techniques: musical comedy, tapping and stepping, acrobatic work, toe specialties, and exhibition ballroom.

He took dances such as tangos, the Turkey Trot, the Grizzly Bear, the Black Bottom, and the Charleston and recreated them for stage performances by using strong exaggerations of movement.

He created steps such as the “Ziegfeld Walk” and the “Gilda Glide”, and is credited with developing the talent of such iconic performers as Fred Astaire, Jeanette MacDonald, Gilda Gray, Marilyn Miller, Ann Pennington, Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, Mae West, Groucho Marx, June Allyson, and Fanny Brice.

Wayburn also played himself in the film The Great White Way (1924) in a scene with the Follies chorus "drilling with military precision" during a rehearsal.