Five Personally Tested and Approved Tips to Overcome Stage Fright
I’m just kidding with the GIF, let’s dive into it!
Whether you’re a musician, an actor, a comedian, a motivational speaker or you find yourself about to go on stage for any other reason…you might have encountered this little unwanted creeper called stage fright. It has the ability to reduce your regular wit and intelligence levels below 0% and manages to make you seem utterly unprepared when performing.
Fabulous.
Luckily, that little villain can be dealt with beforehand, if you learn to cure it as the mental barrier it actually is. For what is stage fright other than a very specific and enhanced version of self doubt? Of course, you have any right to disagree with me on this definition, but every time I have experienced stage fright, I later on realised it was a very sudden, overwhelming moment of self doubt. “What if I make a mistake and can’t deal with it” “What if I my hands get too slippery and I lose control” “What if I forget all the notes” “What if…” “What if…” “What if…”
Honey, let me cut you off right there. There is absolutely no point in enforcing anxiety over something you love doing.
Let me type that again for ya, a little more classy this time:
There is absolutely no point
in enforcing anxiety
over something you love doing.
But since we’re all humans, we sometimes struggle with our beliefs and passions. So I enlisted some of the things I do to maximally minimize* the effects of stage fright and to fully enjoy performing again.
*My Latin teacher would be so very proud of me for using this oxymoron. Okay, moving on.
1. Prepare
My first tip seems very obvious and also is the one step you can never ever skip. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Because preparing when you have all the time in the world is easy: just spend an indefinite amount of time working on your project every day and you’ll be a-okay. On the other hand, when we have 1 million things going on at the same moment – as is often the case – we have to use our time wisely and sometimes that means leaving out a couple of exercises we want to do to ensure our best performance. Therefore, I encourage you to live by and repeat this next sentence whenever you need it:
“I did everything in my power to prepare myself as best I could.”
This mantra sets that you prepared, that you did everything you could think of to improve your skill within the time that was available to you and that you accept the fact that preparing more would have been nice, but wasn’t meant to be. Allow me to sketch you a true story as perfect example:
Last week I attended a great jazz clinic, where we had to perform – within five days – three pieces with a brand new combo in addition to all the other instrumental and theory classes we had. Now, my jazz singing is going quite all right, but playing jazz piano is a lil’ rusty for me at the moment (understatement of the year). So there I was, classically trained pianist and all, about to perform 3 jazz pieces within 5 days; no lead sheets and no time to properly practice as I am used to because of all the interesting courses and little sleep. I decided this gave me two options: I could either freak out about the lack of time I had and be very severe with myself because I could never get it perfect the way I imagine myself playing jazz one day.
Or – as option 1 didn’t really appeal to me – I could let go and prepare as best I could. So I got up early, practiced one hour before the first class and practiced some more between food and evening courses.
Was it a perfect concert in terms of playing without mistakes? Hell no. But I prepared as best I could and in the end had so much fun performing that evening, which made it perfect all the same! All of us had a blast and because of our highly positive energy levels, the music flowed and reached our audience as we wanted to anyway. In the end it’s all about your mindset and setting realistic ideas about what it will sound like. You cannot expect to play like a jazz veteran within 5 days. But you can expect to know the piece, know the scales and chords to the solos and enjoy yourself while playing.
2. Recall the best memory you have of performing and recapture that feeling right before you go on stage
I actually gave this one as a piece of advice to one of the students at that same jazz clinic. She was in the restrooms, breathing very heavily and panicking right then and there. When I asked her what was wrong, she answered she was feeling sick and terrified to mess things up. So I tried to soothe her and, more to distract her than to initially help her, asked: “what’s your best memory of performing?” And she started talking, recalling, explaining. And by the time she was done, she had a normal breathing pattern, she was standing taller and her eyes were shining again.
I think this one is almost equally important as preparing yourself. For it is much easier to walk on stage confidently if you actually feel alive, energetic and about to enjoy something great than if you’re sick with worry. However, I too entered the stage several times when I didn’t feel good vibes at all. That was before I added this step to my performance routine.
So please, recall that fantastic feeling when you enjoyed every note, when you gave all your energy and received energy from your audience, when you told your story without words and realised the impact you had on so many people: drink in the adrenaline it gives you and be very aware of the changes it does to your mindset.
On the other hand, if you’re reading this post before you’re performing in public for the first time, this technique will still work. Instead of recalling the feeling you had in front of an audience, bring up the best memory you have of performing for yourself, even when it was as trivial as singing in the shower. Apart from the external energy receiving-part, it should feel very similar and therefore will serve as an equally fine affirmation.
3. Reprogram your mind as athletes do
This one kind of leans on to the previous step, yet it functions on a different level. First, I need to reassure you that there is no living soul on this earth entering the stage without feeling slightly different than sitting in a couch in the living room binge watching Netflix. Everyone feels the adrenaline.
What divides people who like performing from people who deal with stage fright is their approach to that adrenaline. Concerning the group who adores being on stage, they relate the processes that occur in their bodies to excitement, joy, anticipation, wonder, ready for adventure…you might compare it to taking a roller coaster ride, if that’s your cup of tea. Whereas people who deal with stage fright associate the adrenaline with fear, uncertainty, worry, getting out of the comfort zone in a negative way. And there I said it: the physical reactions are equal to both groups, but their approach is either positive or negative. This repogramming of your perception therefore can and has to be trained, as professional athletes do right before they have to perform on a big competition. So whenever you are about to go on stage and you feel your heart beating and your palms starting to sweat, remember that this is the exact same feeling as when you’re falling in love. Or when you’re about to bungee jump. Or when you’re going to do something you can’t fully control, but you really, really want to experience. Forget, or better yet, ban the idea of fear and welcome the idea of excitement instead. I promise you it will change your world.
4. Take several deep breaths
Not only a literal life saver but also a great way to return to the here and now instead of drifting off into the fantasies of our wonderful minds. Breathing deeply has multiple benefits: it prevents us from dying (quite important, I should think), it provides our bodies with oxygen which enables our brains to think more clearly and anticipate any mistakes that might come (higher concentration, great) and it sends a signal to our nervous system that we can step out of the fight-or-flight mode because we are perfectly safe (instant calming effect, wonderful). Beware however, taking shallow, rapid breaths won’t have this effect on you at all, if not the opposite. Please remind yourself to breathe with purpose: in through your nose, out through your mouth. You can even close your eyes or count to four with each breath, whatever works for you. Take five or more of these deep, soothing breaths and you should feel the overwhelm start to melt away instantly. On top of that, it enables you to choose the exact time you want to enter the stage, so you don’t feel rushed or pushed by your own nerves. There are a few other tricks that enforce this process such as standing on the ground barefoot and reconnecting to the earth or doing yoga. But if you’re seconds away from your performance, breathing should do the trick.
5. Don’t care about anything else other than the music/whatever you set out to do on stage
And last but not least, remember why you put yourself through this: for the love of music! For the love of sharing your passion and ensuring people have a good time while they enjoy the sounds you produce, for reviving written scores or making up solos, for expressing yourself in a way that words can never accomplish by themselves…the list is endless really and very personal to every performer. This step also compliments the mind-shifting step: it takes the focus away from yourself and directs it towards serving your audience, adding something valuable to their lives. So let go and enjoy sharing your talent with others!
And there you have it, my five tested and approved steps to dealing with stage fright. If you are currently experiencing a similar issue, I sincerely hope this post helped you out a bit. You only have to remember that step 1 can never be skipped. Of course there are tons of other tricks you can do to improve dealing with stage fright or letting go of fear. If you guys would like me to investigate some more, let me know. Or if you have tips of your own, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment box below.
Much love!
Nathalie
