How to Prevent Performance Anxiety

Whether you are an actor, musician or dancer, you will understand the importance of overcoming and preventing performance anxiety, more commonly known as stage fright. We have all had it at one time or another. It feels like you can't breathe, you're seeing spots and you can hardly speak, much less imagine going on stage to perform. If you struggle with this problem, follow these basic steps to help prevent performance anxiety.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Remind yourself that what you fear is not the performance itself, but rather making a mistake during the performance. This sounds simple enough, yet so few people take the time to think about this fact. Audiences want a live performance and they know you are human, so they know mistakes are possible and even permissible. If you do have a glitch during the performance, chances are the audience wil never know it if you maintain your poise and move on to the next note, speech or dance.

2. Remember to breathe. Most problems occur during a performance when the performer gets nervous and forgets to breathe. Pause, draw a deep breath and remind yourself to keep breathing regularly even if you are a bit anxious.

3. Eat a banana before performing. Yes, this sounds a little kooky, but it actually helps. The potassium in the banana somehow helps to mediate the anxiety factor. Other potassium-rich foods work too, like potatoes, for example. They act as "comfort foods" in this case.

4. Use self-talk to help eliminate physical signs of stress, like hand-shaking or sweating. If your hands are trembling or you are sweating, talk to yourself and remind yourself that you have something to do. Tell yourself you are going to do it whether your hands or the sweat stop or not.

5. Find something else to focus your attention on. Isaac Asimov calls this the "eureka phenomenon." It basically involves taking your mind off the creative act for a moment, focusing on something entirely different, something pleasurable and easy, and then, "eureka," you can perform, create and express. Being hyper-focused on the performance can be a detriment at times.