- Your heart races, your face sweats, your hands shake and your voice wobbles at the thought of public speaking. This stage fright is one the most common phobias.
- Practice. The more comfortable you are with your material, the more comfortable you will be sharing it on stage. Practice in front of a mirror to see your expressions. Notice how the nerves dissipate when you smile. Practice in front of friends and family to get the feel for performing in front of a group.
- Calm your mind and body the night or morning before you're on stage. Try 30 minutes of yoga to center yourself. Pray or meditate to put your mind at ease. Practice controlled, diaphragmatic breathing. Slowly inhale through your nose and as you exhale through your mouth, let your body relax from your head to your toes.
- Almost everyone gets nervous before a performance. It's natural response. The key is to work with the adrenaline pumping in your veins so it doesn't consume you. If you begin punishing yourself for feeling nervous, the anxiety will only get worse. Say to yourself, "I'm nervous, and that's OK."
- Consider who you are comfortable performing in front of, whether it's Mom or Dad or a group of children. Then visualize the audience as this group. Try seeing the whole audience as only one person who is rooting for you to succeed.
- Break the ice with a joke or funny story relevant to the topic at hand. Laughter will relax you and remind you that the audience is on your side. Pick a joke or story you feel comfortable telling. Practice the delivery on friends or family beforehand.
- Audience participation will make you feel less alone on stage. Ask questions that begin "How many of you have ever ...?" "Don't you hate it when ...?" or "Has this ever happened to you ...?" The more contact you have with your audience, the more comfortable you will feel.
- Focus all your attention on the task at hand. Decide on a goal, such as "persuade the audience," and then design and stick to a game plan to best achieve that end. If your focus begins to drift to a distracting person in the audience or you begin to lose your train of thought, you will become more anxious and flustered. Take a deep breath and refocus on your mission.
