Have you ever had to give a class presentation? Perform a speech in front of a crowd? Maybe even be the focal point of entertainment for a group of people? If so, there’s a good chance you have experienced stage fright.
What is stage fright? This does not mean that you are literally afraid of the stage you are standing on, rather there is an arousal of performance anxiety. There is a fear of what may happen while on stage. As a performing musician, I have felt this experience first-hand. My palms get sweaty, my heart rate increases, and my stomach feels like it has dropped into my feet. This feeling happened much more frequently early on in my days of performing in front of an audience. As time went on, my nerves settled as I got used to being the center of attention. Now I rarely ever get stage fright (usually only when someone “important” is in the crowd). For some people, levels of performance anxiety can be so high that they are debilitating to their actual performance. Sometimes it even hiders musicians from stepping on stage at all. Who gets it? Why do some people suffer more severe symptoms of stage fright compared to others? Performance anxiety may affect anyone who must assert themselves in front of others. These people may include musicians, athletes, test takers, and public speakers. Individuals who are sensitive to issues of rejection, loss, and competition may be exceptionally affected by the external conditions of performing. Thus, musicians may be more susceptible to performance anxiety than people in other professions because they are threatened with psychological, societal, and economic aggressors that may be career-damaging. Can you avoid it? In the arena of stage fright, practice may make perfect. A recently published research article studied 44 professional solo musicians and tried to identify common thought processes used to deal with pressure. They found that the most common form of achieving mental relaxation during performance was by completely internalizing themselves in various aspects of the music. This basically means that they focus all of their attention on the very smallest and minute details of the musical aspects of their piece. The study concluded that in order to maintain a high level of performance while under pressure, experienced musicians frequently focus on music-related information, physical aspects, and thoughts that give confidence. The ironic paradox in the quest to defeat stage fright is simply that practicing performing in front of an audience in beneficial in reducing stage fright in the future. If you can push yourself past this conundrum, then you can conquer your stage fright.
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Haley EnglishProfessional musician and psychology student. ArchivesCategories |