How to fight stage fright?

For some people the word ‘stage ‘sounds as dreadful as ‘death’. These are the people who go numb, cold and sweaty the moment they stand on a stage and face an audience; such people are said to be suffering from ‘stage fright’.

People suffering from performance anxiety would start trembling, sweating and shivering at the mere mention of the word ‘stage’. Stage fright is very common, especially among teenagers and youngsters and sometimes even among adults. Such people are generally over conscious about the people around them and what they will think about them. They feel extra self-conscious and tend to self-confidence when confronted with a huge audience. This is the reason why they don’t feel assured enough in front of a huge crowd/audience and tend to be petrified. Their heart starts throbbing, their mouth goes dry, their voice gets chocked in the throat and they seem to forget breathing for some time! Even very confident and eminent personalities often showcase these characteristics while facing a huge crowd.

So, if you share mutual signs mentioned above when you step on the stage, in front of the mike then you have indeed landed up on the right page! Some proficient weapons have been suggested below, which can help you fight a war against stage fright:

• One of the most vital things: Do your homework properly. Be prepared and thorough with whatever you are going to present on the stage. This will help you gain confidence. If you don’t know your topic properly then you are bound to lose confidence and fumble on the stage.
• Remember the old saying: Practice makes a man perfect.This is indeed the most important weapons of all. Practice vigorously before going on to the stage. Stand in front of the mirror and practice multiple times to gain confidence. Look at yourself in the mirror while practicing; Keep improving to make sure your body language, facial expressions and overall presentation is good enough when presented in front of the audience.
• Before going on to the stage, induce positive thoughts about yourself and the audience in your mind and convince yourself that you can do it. Take a deep breath, relax and calm down yourself before you go on stage to give your performance.
• Try reaching the venue few minutes before so that you can take time to acquaint yourself with the stage, surroundings, atmosphere and most important of all-the audience. Knowing your audience is a very crucial aspect to be kept in mind, especially when it comes to fighting stage fright.
• Don’t ever be afraid of the audience because you must understand that the audience is there to watch your performance and not to criticise or judge. So even if you make mistake, don’t panic, apologise (in case of a speech), correct it and continue with your remnant performance.
• The toughest task during a stage performance is: Facing the audience. This is one of the prime things, which triggers off stage fright in most of the people. To deal with this problem, make sure you don’t make an eye contact with the audience. Just normally and randomly keep panning your sight over everyone or if you are too scared to do that, look at the nearby walls in a way that the audience thinks that you are looking at them.
• Last but not the least; this is like the golden key to overcome stage fright- Instead of creating a taboo out of stage performance and dreading it, make it a point to enjoy and relish it.

So next time you step on a stage, keep these points in mind, follow them and I can guarantee that you will surely get the loudest applaud ever from the audience!