Stage fright, also referred to as
"Performance anxiety" is essentially a feeling of nervousness or
uneasiness one gets before a public speech, dance, acting, and
music performance or even when just facing the audience. There
are four different parts of Stage Fright: Anticipation is assumption of
negative and impractical images of the performance. Avoidance is the want
to avoid doing the particular task. Panic and anxiety are the
symptoms experience before the presentation. And appraisal is the period of time
after performance when the performer looks back on how the activity
was performed.
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Performance anxiety is a very unruly level of anxiety
that can expand in any given situation where you have to perform an activity and
present yourself. It occurs in both public or private situations but whatever
the background is, the pattern of behaviour is normally the same. Initially,
what happens when you experience performance anxiety is that you begin to
worry, thinking about the things that could go wrong. Then anxiety develops and
the anxiety gets in the way of your own staging. Performance anxiety is a very
common sexual problem as well in which anxiety about engaging in sexual
activity becomes a block to sexual feelings, emotions and thoughts. It can
result in avoidance of sexual encounters, lowered self-esteem, and relationship
problems. The individuals who have experienced stage fright before feel the
way they feel during performing themselves because of certain reasons. I will explain in more detail of some of the certain reasons people experience stage fright down below in my different posts!
Studer, R., Gomez, P., Hildebrandt, H., Arial, M., & Danuser, B. (2011). Stage fright: Its experience as a problem and coping with it. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 84(7), 761-71. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1007/s00420-010-0608-1
Carandang, C. (2015, Dec 6). How Performance Anxiety Develops. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC4RsxPTntU&t=1s
This video explains in depth detail on what is performance anxiety, it shows diagrams of the cycle how it works, examples, thoughts and behaviours of individuals when they are experiencing Stage fright. It is very easy to understand on how it develops and you could get a better understanding of Stage fright.
Symptoms of Stage Fright are classified into Physical and Emotional. The
Physical and Emotional Symptoms occur when individuals appear in front of a
large group of audience or when they are about to present themselves in front
of group of people. There are many ways of overcoming the symptoms of Stage
Fright. To begin with, when someone is presenting something there is always the
thought that crosses their mind that something “bizarre” could happen while
they are giving their speech. The most common suggestion that is given out to
the presenters is that, be well prepared. When someone is experiencing tight
throat, nausea, cold hands it is because firstly, they might not be comfortable
in themselves and they think whatever they have to present is useless and secondly,
it could be the way they are dressed and they are not comfortable of what they
are wearing which results in lack of confidence in themselves. This result in shaky legs/hands, because when someone is not dressed comfortably it is very common for the person to have shaky legs and sweaty hands. The person who is well prepared and dressed in a way they
feel comfortable, it is positive that the symptoms of stage fright will be
lessen and the following individual will feel good about themselves. Down below I have provided some common physical and emotional symptoms of Stage Fright.
Genard, G. (2015). Speak for Success. Retrieved from http://www.genardmethod.com/blog/bid/169656/Top-10-Causes-of-Speech-Anxiety-and-How-to-Beat-Em
1. Self-consciousness in front of large groups.
This is the most common reason individuals feel about presenting themselves in
front of large group of audience, everyone is comfortable talking to small
groups but when it comes to a large group of people they are self-consciousness
2. Fear of appearing nervous. Individuals tend to
think that when they will present themselves in front of other people they will
look nervous and it will be evident that they are nervous standing in front of
a particular group of people
3. Concern that others are judging you. Majority of
us are concern that others are judging you, but the truth is that people don’t care
about you. They are in the audience for a reason and the reason is to get
something out of your lecture, speech, talk or presentation. 4. Past failures. You have failed at some point of your life in high-profile speaking situation to get where you are at the moment 5. Poor or insufficient preparation. If you are not
prepared for the speech, it is obvious that you will not have enough confidence
because you have not prepared yourself enough to share your speech with others 6. Narcissism. According to Gary Genard, Narcissism is the ''toughest love" message of all concerning fear of public speaking
7. Dissatisfaction with your abilities. This one is
a legitimate concern for any speaker, to avoid this you should get the speech
training you’ve been pondering about. Just knowing that you have first-rate
skills can provide you with a load of confidence 8. Discomfort with your own body and movement. Some
people are perfectly at ease physically with friends, but the minute they get
up in front of an audience they are extremely in difficulty 9. Poor breathing habits. Everyone is not an expert
in breathing method for speech, unless you’ve been trained as an actor or
singer 10. Comparing ourselves to others. We as humans always
compare ourselves to others which is very unfortunate. When presenting yourself
in front of others, your task is to do your job well enough instead of
comparing yourself with others
Genard, G. (2015). 10 Causes of Speech Anxiety that Create Fear of Public Speaking. Retrieved from http://www.genardmethod.com/blog/bid/169656/Top-10-Causes-of-Speech-Anxiety-and-How-to-Beat-Em
There are many simple ways to cope with stage fright. There
is one concept that you will need to know, by knowing this concept it will
assist you to extinguish your fear of public speaking. The concept is “fear”
which is actually the expectancy of physical or emotional pain, either
fear of rejection, or loss. And by extinguishing the fear that you have for
stage fright or any sort of public speaking by recognizing it and by following
some simple steps which will aid you control stage fright. The list I have provided below are 6 simple
steps to manage and overcome stage fright. Step 1: Stay Superficially Focused
Always remember your main message and focus on that, don’t get abstracted by any other outside thoughts that you may ponder about
Focus on the audience rather than yourself, don’t focus on things like (what if I mess up/forget my lines, how do I look, and what other people might be thinking etc..)
Step 2: Start Small
Practice whatever you are going to talk about to the audience to yourself in the mirror or wherever you are comfortable a couple of times until you are well prepared and be self-assured to share your thoughts and ideas in front of others
Tell a few of your friends or relatives and ask their opinion, this way you can show whatever you have prepared and get a small reaction about it, and alter any lines or ideas you might tend to avoid during your presentation
Present your speech in a small group of people about 10-15 group of people and get comfortable speaking in front of them first, so you could be more comfortable speaking in front of large group of audience
Step 3: Accept Your Mistakes
Everything takes practice, no one is perfect and everybody make mistakes. Individuals who are good at soccer, basketball or any other activities, they have practiced enough to be proficient and expert in their field of interest and they were not naturally born a perfect soccer player or whatever the scenario may be
Avoid self-punishment. Don’t be hard on yourself even if you made a mistake, accept and learn from your mistakes
Step 4: Replace
Negative Thoughts with Positive Ones
People have short term memories. They won’t remember what you have said or where you went wrong, people tend to forget these things and don’t remember every mistake that you probably made. Just remember people will forget overtime even if your message was appealing or disagreeable to them
Step 5: Transform Your
Problems into Solutions
Got shaky hands or legs? Take a small walk across the stage and walk causally and address the people as you go
Step 6: Become
Familiar
Image a familiar face is watching, do your best for that person
Pick a few key people and glance at them rather than the whole audience
Look for a positive body language and use that as motivation
Maina, A. (2015). 16 Ways to Overcome Stage Fright When Speaking in Public. Retrieved from https://smallbiztrends.com/2015/10/overcome-stage-fright-speaking-in-public.html
PublicSpeakinAnxiety. (2011, June 30). How to Overcome Stage Fright. [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkPMRSHDJY
Howcast. (2013, July 27). How to Overcome Stage Fright | Public Speaking. [Video File]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PesJyu5JvYk
This following video explains in brief detail on how you could overcome Stage Fright. The video is only 2 minutes and 25 seconds, it's very short but it will give you a great and essential tip where you will get an idea on how to perform, be comfortable and to get ready in front of an audience!
