Getting Over Stage Fright PART 2
Now because stage fright is such a large topic, we need to break up the this subject into a couple different articles. So with that being said, if you haven’t read part 1 of this topic then read that first and then jump on over to part 2.
Another really big key to helping you rid yourself of stage fright is by having a pre-performance ritual. Now this can be whatever you want it to be… quite literally anything. It can be something that helps you with the task of performing or it can be something that is completely random and has no aid in your performance, as long as it’s something that you have picked out and something that you do EVERY SINGLE TIME before you perform. Let’s break down why it is that this can help you with stage fright.
Studies have shown that pre-performance rituals can actually reduce our anxiety and keep us calm before a performance which makes it a vital tool to use in battling our stage fright. One big reason why a pre-performance ritual might do this is because it gives you control in a situation where you feel like you are losing control. When we get stage fright, we sometimes spiral into nerves and anxiety which can make us feel very out of control with our mind and body. Having a pre-performance ritual allows us to do something that we can control consistently and it has the potential to ground us in that task and hopefully help us feel more control all around. This could be something strictly physical, strictly mental, or a combo of the two; as long as it’s giving some control in at least one of those aspects it could have the potential to make you feel more controlled and relaxed overall.
Another reason why pre-performance rituals are so great is because they are somewhat of a meditation that relaxes us before performing the task at hand; in this case singing. When you are feeling stage fright, your mind is most likely bouncing all over the place and thinking a million different things. So when you do a pre-performance ritual it forces you to drop all those millions of stressed thoughts to focus on whatever the ritual is. This allows you to bring your body back to a “baseline” and allows you to potentially feel more relaxed. Your activity doesn’t necessarily have to be “peaceful” like a typical meditation though. It could be very physically exerting like jumping jacks, or something very stimulating like blaring your favorite music and dancing around, as long as it’s something that isn’t known to personally cause you stress its probably something you can use as a pre-performance ritual.
One of the last reasons why pre-performance rituals can be beneficial is that you are taking your mind off of the nervousness of the performance and putting all of your attention on whatever your ritual task is. This forces you to completely drop the anxious thoughts that so often can cause us to spiral until we decide to runaway from the performance. By doing this ritual it takes your mind elsewhere so that it isn’t thinking about where it is or what its going to have to do and by the time you have to do it, you are already walking onstage and it does’t have time to spiral anymore. I have several experiences like this in my lifetime of performing that weren’t purposeful rituals but things that made me focus on something else before a performance and gave me no time to actually think about the performance before going onstage. Now if you would’ve asked me before those situations if I would’ve chosen to do something like that I would’ve said NO THAT SOUNDS STRESSFUL… but it was actually the opposite. Usually stage fright is irrational and often hinges on “what if” statements that are only strengthened with time to think about them. So the second you suffocate them of that time, they can’t grow near as big and scary and it can make it much easier to jump up on that stage.