Tired of Stage Fright? Try these tips.

how to overcome stage frightA dear friend, who is a phenomenal actor and sings like he was blessed by Apollo himself, has an issue... he frequently feels overcome with stage fright.

This comes from a fear of being compared or judged.

Now, this is an actor who has worked on exceptional projects, non-stop, for almost two decades. But he slowly stopped auditioning because he was crippled by fear. 

It takes a ballsy person to be an actor. If you're willing to put yourself on display, pouring your heart into every performance, pushing your body and voice to the limit show after show, there's a pretty good chance that your brain knows how to work overtime. Which means you might second-guess yourself, from time to time.

But, what if this becomes more than an every-once-in-a-while-occurrence?

If you crave the spotlight, but stage fright gets the better of you- how do you begin to regain your confidence? 

Practice positive self-speak.  We become what we tell ourselves, so practice speaking kindly to yourself.

It's interesting that we can encourage and lift up others, but we have a hard time encouraging or lifting up ourselves.  Positive affirmations may sound kooky, but we use them to revitalize, empower and reassure us that the positive things we say are becoming our reality. 

Surround yourself with the right people.  There is a phrase that says "Your circle should want to see you win. Your circle should clap loudly when you have good news. If not, get a new circle".  Enough said.

Trust & Allow.  Kevin says this a LOT. It's because there is so much truth to this statement!

You've put in the work, so TRUST that everything you've done to fine tune your performance will be there, and ALLOW yourself to be in the moment and enjoy it.

Own what YOU do well.  Stop comparing yourself to others. 

Are you a singer who doesn't really dance? Own it.  

Do you relate to quirky and awkward characters? Own it!

Do you have an 9 note vocal range? Own it.

We all have things that make us unique and valuable as performers. Stop worrying about the other people in the room, use the reality of your situation and DO YOUR THING!

Haters gonna hate.  An unfortunate, but unchangeable fact is that people will judge. You CAN choose to look past their judgement.

Remember that judgement typically comes from a place of insecurity. If people are sitting around thinking about you, then you must be pretty special, right?

As Natalie's grandfather always said, "No one's jealous of an ass." 

Maybe if those same people worried a little more about them, and a little less about you, they'd be a whole lot happier with a lot less time to gossip. 

 

Be kind to yourself. Talk about how you're feeling. Give yourself some compassion.

If you stop to think about it, you're pretty freakin' amazing.

 

Let us know how you handle stage fright in the comments below. 

Leave a comment