Trembling hands and knees, intense perspiration, tremulous voices, forgetfulness, breathlessness, pounding heart, mouth feels dry these are physical manifestations or symptoms of an emotional disturbance. It could be “stage fright” a kind of social fear that one experiences when he or she made to perform, speak, sing or act in public or before an audience.
A little nervousness that one feels before a performance is quite normal especially for first-time performers. Eugene White once said, “When one faces an audience, we do not fear the process of speaking as such, but rather the consequences of it, particularly the possibility of a negative response from one listeners.” We are concerned with that our audience would think or say about our performance. And these gives us the jitters. Will they like my performance? Won’t they laugh? Won’t they tease, ridicule or criticize? Will the audience walk out on me if I forget a line or two? Will they boo me off the stage? These are only some of the questions that we usually ask before a certain performance.
She fright can strike anywhere and anytime. It does not have to be in a large auditorium that can accommodate hundreds of people to watch you. You can experience stage fright even within the corners of your classroom, when tou deliver your oral reports or you have classroom plays.
Here are some tips to get you “onstage” without a major panic attack:
- 1.Practice
There is no other way to build up confidence than by a thorough preparation. Starts working well before the performance date. Practice in a mirror to see how you will look while performing. Invite your friends or ask your family to be your audience.
- 2.Use positive-talk
Instead of thinking “I’m going to flop” think I’m going to be sensational.” Replace the negative thoughts with positive ones.
- 3.Know your audience.
It is important to know who are your audience and their approximate size so that you will not be discouraged or shocked when you come up the stage.
- 4.Psychologize yourself.
Instead of picturing yourself forgetting your part, see yourself giving a flawless performance. Speak to yourself that you are fully prepared for this.
- 5.Do some pre-performance exercises
Your body needs oxygen to keep muscles relaxed, yawning gets the oxygen to your muscles quickly. If you don’t want to yawn, take a few slow deep breaths. Breathing exercises will help much. Strectching may also help you relax. If your hands are shaky, make clenched fists, hold them for a few seconds and then relax.
By: Edwina B. Gatmen | Teacher II | Bagac Elementary School | Bagac, Bataan
