How To Finally Overcome Your Debilitating Stage Fear?
Have you ever spoken before in front of strangers or on a stage? When the event starts and the time of your speech nears, have you experienced a kind of fear, heart beating faster like it would come out of your chest at any given moment? If you are wondering what it is, the answer is stage fear.
Every orator would have experienced stage fear at least once in their life. Right from a young age, some people might have the natural ability of speaking on stage. But there is a part of the population who is terrified at the mere thought of public speaking. Then again, how to overcome stage fright?
What exactly is stage fright? We are all aware of the term anxiety. Stage fear is a manifestation of anxiety that arises at the thought of getting on a stage. Your brain becomes so tense it convinces itself that you are in a dangerous situation. Like in any other threatening situation your body encounters, the fight-or-flight response of the human body activates, and the consequences can vary with different people. We can also see panic attacks and fainting in some people. Such responses hinder the quality of the performance and can manifest fear of future failures.
Stage fear is not a strange occurrence among both kids and adults. Even the most seasoned of speakers get the fear, but they overcome it as soon as they enter the stage. How are they able to do that? If you are wondering if you will ever be able to perform on stage without the crippling fear of failure, here are some tips for you.
Try focussing on a single point
Generally, when a person is anxious, their thought process becomes so scattered that it becomes difficult to understand. When your brain floods with unnecessary thoughts before getting on stage, what you can do is focus on one thought that gives you relief.
If you are someone who has had terrible experiences on stage before, those thoughts are sure to take control of your mind before getting on the stage again. It can cripple you and even prevent you from going to the event altogether. So, instead of focussing on these unpleasant thoughts, you should focus on the performance. Think about why you are doing it, and what will be the results if you do well.
For everyone struggling with how to overcome stage fright, focusing on the right point when anxiety kicks in can be effective. You train your brain to focus on the positive outcome of the performance. Give positive affirmations like ‘I will give my best and inspire people to do good for the cause’, etc.
Redirect your energy
When thinking about so many anxious thoughts, your body spends enormous amounts of energy. For someone wondering how to overcome stage fright, they can try redirecting this energy and put it to better use. Why not think about your topic? Force your brain to cease the negative train of thought and form thoughts about what you are going to speak.
Think about the impact you will have on the audience. You would hence redirect the energy your body has to think about unnecessary stuff in different ways for productive use. This would keep you calm as you are thinking about one topic and not random events of failure that will put your brain in an anxious zone.
Remember to take a breath
Whenever your body is stressed, one of the most biologically sound ways of destressing is to breathe. Your cells require more oxygen. Starving them of oxygen will only worsen the situation. When you are hit with random waves of anxiety before a speech and think about how to overcome stage fright, remember to take a moment to breathe. Get rid of the anxiety by convincing your brain that everything is normal. Take deep breaths which get registered in your brain as a safe environment, and not threatening.
For someone who has general anxiety, they would know how to calm themselves when hit with a train of anxious thoughts. It can make you nauseous and even feel suffocating. Taking mindful breaths can help curb these situations, as enough oxygen in all cells would make you feel strong and not dizzy. Even close your eyes if it helps you focus on your inhalation better.
Relax your muscles and maybe distract yourself
As an orator, you do not have to spend the entire time before your enactment thinking about it. You can do something entirely different. If you have already prepared your part, watching videos on YouTube, or reels on Instagram can put your mind at ease. Even go for funny ones to make you laugh. The act of laughing will tell your brain that you are in a safe and happy place, and there is no need to get anxious.
Focussing on the performance for the entire time before it happens can make you have some anxious thoughts. Nobody wants that. If you know you have done your preparation, distract your mind with something that you find engaging. Funny videos, memes, and other stuff on social media are one way to go about it.
You can even call up someone you feel safe with or talk to friends near you. Keeping yourself engaged in something would take your mind off the speech and give you fresh ideas. Who knows, you might even find new points pertaining to your topic that are quotable in the videos you watch.
Be confident in your skills
You know you have rehearsed a lot for the speech. You have done your prep part well. Whatever comes next can be smooth if you believe in yourself. For someone who gets worried, believing in themselves can be a laborious task. How do you make this happen?
The trick is, even if you do not feel confident, try reflecting on it. Some of the world’s greatest orators are not all confident and fearless. They experience some amount of fear from time to time. But their success lies in overcoming that fear.
Even with fear, they perform by believing that they can. When they meet people before the speech too, they do not seem like anxious messes. It’s not because they are not scared, but because they have learned to handle their anxiety in a better way that would not compromise their performance.
Conclusion
If you take some tips from professional speakers around the world, it shows how confident they are. Since it is not something you can achieve within a limited time, you would require expert help.
You cannot build confidence in a day. That is why you need the help of Orator Academy to help you train better to believe in your skills. At Orator Academy, they have some of the most wisely curated training courses to help a person find the root causes of their fear and overcome it. Training with professionals will assist an individual in getting a better hold of their fear, reducing it, and developing a more confident persona.
Enrol in training classes on how to overcome stage fright and become better speakers than you already are.
