6 Powerful Ways To Help You Overcome Stage Fright
Overcoming stage fright is within the reach of everyone that is willing to do something about it. Whether you want to make an impact as an entertainer, speaker, win in business or in personal relationships, overcoming stage fright is absolutely critical to your success. There is a wide array of situations in which you will need to perform effectively to your audience.
Has this ever happened to you? Maybe you had to make a speech in front of a large group of people, or had to make a presentation for a client, perhaps you needed to talk in an important business meeting - but all of a sudden you start to sweat profusely, you're stricken with anxiety and you start to stutter. Your heart is racing and it feels like everyone is looking at you with judgment.
- This is what it feels like to have stage fright. The biggest reason most people have stage fright is because they feel too attached to the idea of failure, their imagination runs wild with thoughts of people either jeering them off stage or their talk resulting in an awkward silence at the end. But there are other reasons too - the tension of anticipation and the feeling of needing to deliver a great speech or presentation can create anxiety and affect your confidence.
While there is no miracle cure for overcoming stage fright, there are some important tips which will help you immensely:
- Build your confidence with rehearsals. It doesn't matter whether you are an aspiring public speaker, entertainer or if you need to make a business presentation, you need to rehearse what you're going to say. Use a video or voice recorder and record your presentation or speech. Remember, practice makes perfect.
- After recording, you may notice many things to correct. You may see that your body language portrays insecurity and is closed off, your vocal tonality is not clear or too monotone, your overall message is confusing, etc. Keep making continuous improvements until you feel like your body language, vocal tonality, and message has an impact. And don't strive for perfection before you head out to perform. The only way you'll know what works will depend on the audience reaction.
- Imagine yourself delivering a successful speech or presentation. Use your imagination and envision the outcome you would like as a result of your performance. Feel in your body how it would feel if the audience started applauding. How would it feel? What would you see? What do you hear? Carry this feeling before you head out to perform.
- Relax before you start to speak or perform. When the moment finally arrives, there can be nothing more fear-inducing than the anticipation. So before you get ready to get on stage, take a deep breath from the diaphragm and relax your body. This will help remove anxiety and fear so you can deliver without any inner resistance.
- Focus on the message/performance not the result. Rather than focus on the outcome (which in reality you can never control), focus on the delivery of the message or performance. Think about helping the audience with your message, making them laugh, entertaining them and making a difference. This alone may result in a positive outcome.
- Finally, realize that failure is part of the process. You may notice that your audience may enjoy certain parts of your performance and not enjoy other parts. You'll get a read on this from their reactions or simply by asking for feedback. With this information, you can make improvements and drop things that didn't work for you.
So with these 6 steps, overcoming stage fright should be easier for you. These steps focus on the fundamentals rather than quirky tips such as imagining your audience naked or worse. Good luck on your next performance, speech, or presentation. Begin to apply these 6 fundamental to overcoming stage fright. |
