Reduce your stage fear

A profession dedicated to live performance art, may it be acting, music or public reciting of novels and lyric, is a difficult way to gain your money. First, it obliges to regularly come up with fresh ideas, accompanied by the constant fear that one day your source runs dry. Besides, it is a skill that needs exercise to remain on the top level of competitive ability. And finally, there is the never fully tamed worry that every now and then grabs even the most brilliant and hard-boiled artists. What if I fail this time? Will the audience understand me? Why do they look at me so critically? We here give tips to tame and reduce the last one sorrow and to overcome stage fear.





Reconquer the mind



Speak to yourself! Yes, this sounds bizarre. But we already do this by constantly repeating "I can't do this! I will goof! They will kill me!" So simply think about this: why not use this "highly effective" technique for the opposite? Replace your brain content with beneficial thoughts. I don't mean you have to fool yourself and tell lies. (You already do this in a negative way, see ;-) Start to think realistically again. You have thoroughly practiced your part in advance, which reduces the chance of performance mistakes. And, you have thought of all possible pitfalls that could arise, for example, a low battery of your computer or microphone, a missing presentation on your USB-drive, ... So there is nearly nothing that could happen. Be honest, it turned out well the last 100 times. Or at least acceptable. You have not made enemies for what you have done on stage. And they did not laugh at you all the time even though you are no clown. Put these bad thoughts aside. Watch your brain and reconquer it. Detrimental thoughts are going to creep in again. Get rid of them repeating benign mantras like: "I gonna make it! They will love me! I am at my best!" This is already some kind of self-hypnosis for overcoming stage fright.



Decide about your audience!



Who says you are not forbidden to cheat? And this doesn't mean just cheat sheets for the lyrics or speech. Place allies of yours in the audience! Take your parents and relatives to the show or presentation. For sure, they are on your side and will excuse nearly all mistakes you do. Also, they make you sense comfortable and being at a appealing place like your home. A main component of fright are strange, unknown things. That is why we hesitate to go new directions like a new job, traveling abroad, talking to strangers and so forth. Blending friends and buddies with the audience makes you feel more familiar and comfortable. Also, you can talk to them in advance do distract you from the fright. They are here for you and comfort you. And they know how to make you feel good ;-)





These tips are just the starting point to cut down your stage fright. On our web page we provide a lot of other tips that will let you learn to love your shows. We also offer an mp3 with a suggestive session that will speed up your advances and remove your stage fear with no effort.