We've all felt it. You have your speech, you know your material, you walk onto stage and its lights camera, "ah, umm, hey guys". Your breathing gets faster, you sweat and ah, umm and rush through your words. Time and time again, your mind feels like a fish out of water the moment you get on stage. This is called performance anxiety, and this article will help you understand, address and overcome it.
If you think about it from a survival perspective, standing in front of hundreds or thousands of people is very dangerous. Your brain is a wet computer running on ancient software which was built during a time when being “judged” by others actually was a life-or-death event. When our brain senses a potential threat, it creates chemicals that cause us to feel focused, nervous, rapid breathing, fast heartbeat and the “fight or flight” feeling. Since you can’t run off stage and hide, we must face the issue head on. We are dealing with more than a feeling; we are dealing with a complex chemical reaction because our brain is worried about our survival.
“So how do I get my brain and body to stop panicking?” Most people would say focus on your breathing and that can help, but once you’re already nervous and breathing fast, focusing on your breathing can lead to making things worse because you’re thinking about it. Instead, focus on your posture because your brain releases stress chemicals, or relaxation chemicals based on your body language.
Right now, stand up, slouch while you breathe in and out fast noticing how you feel. Next stand with your head up, chest out, shoulders back, taking slow deep full breaths noticing how you feel. When our body is in a confident, open position, our brain is a lot calmer because it interprets that as “no threat is present”. When our body is in a tight, restricted, fearful position our brain interprets that as “there must be a threat”.
I have three pet turtles and when they are scared their immediate reaction is to tuck in their shell, shoulders up. When they feel safe, their neck is out as they are calmly sitting on a rock. The same thing happens when people feel nervous, we tighten up, we keep our shoulders up and legs close together until the “threat” is gone.
More often than not, the “threat” is far worse in our head than it is in reality. “They’re all judging me and I’m making a fool of myself”, only exist in your head unless someone explicitly says, “I’m judging you”. Nobody thinks about us, as much as we think about ourselves. People want to know “what can I get” more than they care about how good your speech was or anything about you personally. Instead of focusing so deeply on “how good am I doing”, shift your focus onto “what do I want the audience to learn, feel and get”.
This doesn't just apply to being on stage, in any area of life where we put the pressure to perform on ourselves, it makes it much scarier than it actually is. Next time you’re on a date for example, if you feel like “ I need to impress them”, you’ll find yourself overthinking what to say and wear. Instead, if you focus on simply having a good time and being in the moment, things are a lot smoother because there’s less pressure in your mind.
Lastly, pretend you’re Batman. I know how silly that sounds, but if you create an imaginary character in your head who never feels afraid and you pretend to be them, you’re not worried about people judging you because actually they’re judging your alter ego. The singer Beyonce has admitted that she feels very shy, nervous and afraid when performing, so how in the world does “Queen B” act so bold? Because the person performing is her alter ego, Sasha Feirce. Norma Mortenson was a shy, insecure young woman who created the alter ego Marilyn Monroe, who we know as a confident, bold and captivating model and actress.
Imagine yourself stepping into a character who feels confident on stage and is an absolute expert on their subject. We perform how we see ourselves and we have no reason to doubt the version of ourselves we created in our mind. Bruce Wayne and Batman, Peter Parker and Spiderman, Klark Kent and Superman all act drastically more “Super” when in their alter egos than they do in their day-to-day life. Imagine yourself as the expert you are, someone who commands a stage and captivated audiences and “magically” the fear of judgment loosens its grip on you, maybe not completely but a very noticeable amount.
So next time you’re on stage, a date or podcast, here's how to stop letting performance anxiety steal the show:
1: Pay attention to your body language, lift your head up, shoulders back and keep your body “open”. Confident, secure body language produces a feeling of safety in your body and brain.
2: Remember nobody judges you, as much as you judge yourself. They want to learn something, have a good time or be entertained. Focus on your audience and your material, more than you focus on yourself. The less you’re thinking about yourself, the less opportunity there is for you to overthink what you’re saying or doing.
3: Create an alter ego and step into character before you get on stage. Let them take over and you simply watch and allow yourself to enjoy the moment. Of all the tips given, this one is by far the most complex so if you plan to use this, do a simple google search on “How to create an alter ego”.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this article. If you’d like to contact me for podcast or speaking engagements or check out my content on helping teens and young adults, feel more confident and take ownership of their future, my YouTube channel is Lawrencec.empowers or email me at [email protected].
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