How to Control and Overcome Stage Fright?

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