If that happens once, then just thinking of the next performance gets even scarier.
So what to do? Can we practice being nervous to learn how to deal with it?
The first idea we get of course is to get some people to watch us perform, but that can sometimes backfire because if it goes too well with them, we may take it for granted and be even less ready to handle nervousness when we perform for real.
So then what?
Well, what happens when we get nervous is that our heart rate goes faster and that we can't think as clearly. So it's best to recreate that when we practice performing. And the best way to get our heart rate to go faster and our minds to not think clearly is to... run!
Yes, literally run around your block, or go up and down a few flights of stair and then give your performance.
Now, this fake nervous feeling we get with running doesn't last as long as the performance will , so we've got to run again every so often, but besides that it's a pretty good technique.
Have you ever tried practicing being nervous? What are your solutions for handling stage fright?
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Good thoughts, Geraldine. I always tell my coaching students that nervousness comes from an insecurity within. Focusing on the music and not on the self has always helped alleviate my nerves. But sometimes there's no way to replicate the nerves that come from performing. We sometimes can't anticipate them at all!
ReplyDeleteWow. I had never thought of that, and I do sometimes battle nerves. How useful!!
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