Seriously, stage fright or fear of speaking in public is a very common experience that can produce devastating results. It's your body's way of reacting to something unfamiliar perceived as a threat.
MY STORY
When I was in high school, I joined our school choir. We rehearsed so many times for a concert, the first one that I'd be in. We even practiced on stage, minus the audience. Everything went well, until the concert day itself.
At the backstage, I focused on what we practiced and told myself countless times that everything will be okay. But when we were walking towards the stage, I felt my heart pound, my palms dripping with sweat, I was trembling, my knees all weak that taking a step after another became almost impossible. I wanted to run away from the lights and hide. I thought I was going to faint. For the most part of the evening I felt as if no voice came out of my throat. Thank God there were a lot of us in the choir. Even if I just moved my lips, it would appear as if I sang along with the group.
It got better in time. I was able to perform better on stage after so many group performances. But to do a solo was another challenge.
I joined a singing contest and got through several rounds. The first and second rounds were easy because only the judges were in front of me. On the finals, we moved to a bigger venue and the big crowd scared me so much that I felt like they were out to kill me. Of course they wouldn't do that, but I felt terrorized. I shifted my focus to the song I was singing and what it meant to me, but somehow, my focus shifted back to the murderous audience. I wasn't able to hit the last note of the song. This truly broke my spirit. Needless to say, I didn't get the grand prize.
After that, I made it my quest to go to every audition I can find and my goal was just to enjoy the experience. I went to this audition where I was asked to sing, act, and dance. My agenda was to have fun and not care about what the screening committee thought of me. Oh this was so liberating. I performed for myself, not for them. I felt intense joy that overflowed. And guess what! I got the part!!! They said they felt my joy and sincerity, and maybe that's what made it happen for me.
The challenge became greater though when I became a TV host and newscaster. During my first few months, I would stutter, give ahs and uhms, especially when I focused on my fear of fumbling on national TV. So, I prepared more, and I shifted my focus to serving the viewers instead of focusing on making mistakes.
SYMPTOMS
Here are some symptoms of stage fright. You may have a couple or more of these when you are experiencing tremendous fear and anxiety from speaking in public.
1. Faster and louder heartbeats, or, slower heartbeats
2. Light headed or dizzy
3. Fast and short breaths, difficulty in breathing
4. Possible chest pain
5. Numb feeling in the toes, fingers, or scalp
6. Sweating
7. Having the urge to run and escape, being hyper, or feeling weak like fainting
8. Trembling
9. Stomach upset
10. Body pain like back pain, neck pain, headache
11. Urge to urinate
12. Blurred vision
7 TIPS TO OVERCOME STAGE FRIGHT
1. PREPARE
Practice, practice, practice. Practice your material in front of a friend as if you're already in front of a huge crowd. Get feedback. Know the correct pronunciation of names. Say the difficult words again and again until your tongue gets used to it, that's muscle memory.
Eat your meal two hours before you go on stage. If you don't eat, you might lack the energy you need, you might forget what you're going to say, you might lack clarity and focus. If you eat right before you go on stage, you might feel heavy and sleepy, you might burp, worse, you might vomit. Eating two hours before the stint is enough time for the food to be digested.
2. RELAX
Do slow breathing exercises. Stretch.
3. FOCUS
What you focus on grows. Where your focus goes, there your energy flows. So if you focus on the terrible mistakes you'll make, the audience hating you, and all the negative things in the world... expect bad things to happen. Shift your focus to service. It's not about you. It's about serving others.
4. ENJOY
What you feel usually reaches the audience. So tell yourself again and again that it's going to be fun, that you'll have a great time.
5. INVOLVE THE AUDIENCE
If possible, try to talk to early birds and get to know them. This may help calm you. Also, you can try to ask questions to make your audience think. Make them repeat key words you mentioned, like "Everybody say focus. Touch the person to your right, and tell that person, focus."
6. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
It will be awesome if you can have someone record your stint. Watch it on your own. It may feel a little awkward at first, but that's how you can spot your strengths and weaknesses so you can improve. You can ask an expert to watch it too and get specific points to work on.
7. SELF-WORTH
This is probably the best piece of advice I can ever give. This covers stage fright, insecurities, overconfidence, and arrogance. Your audience, whether he or she is a president, a celebrity, a beggar, a convict... they will never be greater or lesser than you. Your mistakes or achievements, or whatever feedback you receive, they will never decrease or increase your self-worth. Your worth comes from God's love, and God's love for you will never ever change. Same goes for your audience.
This is what I try to tell myself all the time when I feel small, or when I'm too proud. I go back to this and remember that what I'm doing in front of the camera or in front of different crowds, is my way of using what God gave me. So, if at any instance, someone would come up to me and praise me, I just say thank you, but in my heart I lift the glory to God and not to my head.
Here are some links that might help:
http://www.anxietycoach.com/performanceanxiety.html
http://www.anxietycoach.com/anxietysymptoms.html
https://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder/treatment/conquering-stage-fright
http://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Stage-Fright
https://www.powtoon.com/blog/5-steps-overcoming-stage-fright/
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93fMnFKwfI
Follow the author on Instagram @CarloFLorenzo
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