Phobia of the stage: ways to get rid of anxiety and psych yourself up for success
Before going on stage, it’s essential to set up your way of thinking correctly. Usually, we are not afraid of the scene itself, but of the audience disapproval. We are scared to look stupid in the eyes of other people, show ourselves in a bad light and get a slap of criticism to the face. Our imagination draws a picture of a complete failure, the voice starts to tremble, the heartbeat accelerates and the expectation (or even worse – the confidence) that it will happen is sneaking up. These thoughts are destructive, and it is not what you have to keep in your mind before the performance. Let’s take a closer look at what has the sense to do for a certain behavior on the stage.
- Give up the idea that you should always be perfect.
Most people are afraid of public appearance because of the fear of making a mistake in front of everyone. This alarm further increases the probability of errors. And even professional speakers are not insured against them. But they do not consider their mistakes as an obstacle on the way to success. The secret is to treat them as accidents and develop the ability to get out of stressful situations quickly. Leave the mistake behind and move on. Remember that you can not please everyone in the audience. Some listeners may even think that you are an idiot if you do so simple mistakes, someone will not notice an oversight, others will admire how cleverly you got out of an awkward situation. But the errors have a positive side – they are a good incentive for development. The second time you will not make it. Ask yourself: “What is the worst thing can happen if I make a mistake?”. The error will not lead to a death sentence.
- Think all the details of your speech.
You can write the text of your speech by yourself or buy assignment for an affordable price on the writing service, but it is not enough just to learn the text. To feel confident, you need to have a good knowledge of the topic of your report and be ready to answer questions from your listeners if they will have any. Successful improvisation on the stage is 90% of the previous training and only 10% of your ability to get out of awkward situations. Stop worrying about yourself and think about the report. You have what to say, and everyone wants to hear about it.
- Realize that all the people are afraid of something.
Now you are on the stage and are afraid of what the viewer will think about you. But it is easy to judge, sitting in the hall, and to do what you are doing now, requires courage and not everybody is ready for it. Even the same spectator would be anxious just like you if he/she were in your place. All the people are afraid of something. Employees are scared of superiors, villains start to sweat by thoughts of jail and businessmen have nightmares about insolvency. Your audience consists of a lot of people, and each of them is afraid of something in their life. Once you realize this, you will find it easier to calm down.
