Fear of Public Speaking

soldier4242

If you have even been a fan of Jerry Seinfeld's stand up then you have undoubtedly heard his humorous observations regarding the widely repeated statistic that people are more afraid of public speaking then they are of death leading to his classic joke.

"In other words, at a funeral, the average person would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy."~ Jerry Seinfeld

Well Jerry certainly got over that fear and got up on stage to talk in front of people as have many others including myself and I am sure many of you. That said I still feel a genuine fear right before I have to get on stage and it normally doesn't subside until I am actually knee deep in to my performance. I project confidence and the audience believes I am confident. After I have made them laugh a few times I am normally fine. But what gets me out there at the start?

Well the trick that I use personally is I convince myself that I am actually the owner of the stage and everything around me and that the audience is a bunch of guests that are actually trying to win my approval. I am interested in how all of you get over this hurtle. Are there some of you that just don't have any fear of it at all? I am interested in your thoughts, insights and experiences.

Circapaleo

I don't do any speaking when I perform, but I play violin and any little shakiness I have comes out in bow bobbles which doesn't sound good. Many, many violinists take beta-blockers right before a performance. Luckily I haven't had to do that, yet, but I do still suffer from some nerves. I recently heard a talk Itzak Pearlman and he said he still gets nervous. Nerves will always be there, but you have to figure out how to manage them. I love bulletproofmusician.com and use many of the techniques he talks about.

Another book I liked was Confessions of a Public Speaker. He uses techniques like the original poster described. He says he often goes commando because knowing he's not wearing his undies and the audience doesn't know this secret gives him some feeling of control and helps him get up on stage.

lydian8

Nerves are not necessarily a bad thing so long as it doesn't prevent you from performing. A little anxiety actually heightens your senses and awareness and can give you a little boost that sharpens your performance. I tend to be nervous until I make a mistake. No one really knows their mistakes unless it goes wildly wrong (and it has). But as a perfectionist, I know where the rough spots are and I won't relax until I get through a mistake. I've always been this way since I was a kid.

The other weird thing to me is the more people, the less nervous I am. Performing in a big arena is not nearly as nerve wracking as in front of an intimate group of 30 or 40. I can't see anyone on a big stage, lights are too bright. But an intimate setting requires a lot of communication with people very close by. It feels more naked, but it's also a bigger reward because the connection is strong. The emotion can fill the room as you perform. The bigger venues, you do the best performance you can as if you see all those people, but you won't know if it paid off till they applaud at the end. Now it is amazing to have a huge crowd love what you did and scream and applaud. I can't deny it's a real ego booster, but personally, even though it's more difficult for me, I prefer smaller venues.

Circapaleo

Nerves are not necessarily a bad thing so long as it doesn't prevent you from performing. A little anxiety actually heightens your senses and awareness and can give you a little boost that sharpens your performance.

I've heard that ...I just gotta figure out how to make that happen for me.

The other weird thing to me is the more people, the less nervous I am. Performing in a big arena is not nearly as nerve wracking as in front of an intimate group of 30 or 40.

I am on the country music scene, though that is not my musical preference, but Tim McGraw and Faith Hill both say that. I haven't got to perform in front of a big crowd, but definitely looking for the rock star ego boost.