So what is stage fear? It is a process of anxiety that people feel when they have to stand up to speak before an audience. It is a defensive response of the organism characterized by different forms at the cognitive, physiological and behavioral levels. Some symptoms are as follows:
| COGNITIVE LEVEL | PHYSIOLOGICAL LEVEL | BEHAVIORAL LEVEL |
| Memory failures | Accelerated breathing. | Postpone action. |
| Failure expectation. | Heavy sweating. | Escape from the situation. |
| Exaggeration of errors. | Urinary urgency. | Automatic actions. |
| Confusion of ideas. | Stomach ache. | Speed when speaking. |
| Concentration failure. | Headache. | Stuttering. |
| Self-demand. | Dry mouth | Low voice volume. |
| Fear of failure. | Facial blush | Use of stimulants. |
| Fear of rejection. | Shaking chills. | Frequent silences. |
| Fear of ridicule. | Icy hands. | Eye pispyleum. |
What goes through our minds when we know that we have to stand in front of an audience to tell them something? Possibly we come to mind the incident that happened to us when we were students and we forgot the subject.
Or perhaps we remember that conference during which we had the feeling that we were forgetting something that was important to mention.
Across the world today, there are many people who prefer to do anything else rather than stand in front of an auditorium. Is that your attitude?
If the answer is yes, the best news I can share with you is that stage fear can not only be controlled, but can be defeated forever.
The obligatory question is: what should I do?
We must understand that stage fright is defeated before standing in front of the public. We have to learn to properly prepare for any opportunity we have to speak in public.
Tips for defeating stage fright
1) Let us investigate carefully the subject that we are going to expose and then delimit it.
We are not required to want to cover all content. When we have a lot of material it is easier to get lost. Therefore, let's look within the topic in general for some of the points that we like the most and talk about them. We will feel comfortable because we will dominate the content.
2) Let's avoid memorizing the subject.
If we have prepared ourselves adequately we will have clear ideas and concepts in mind, therefore we will explain them in our own words.
3) It is important to have good support from audiovisual media.
They will help us remember the important points of our topic. Let's worry about making good presentations, as they will help us keep control of the subject.
4) With the delimited theme, clear concepts in mind and with good audiovisual support, now we just need to practice, practice and practice.
Let's do it in front of a mirror, with the family, with a small group of friends, etc. Record your talk, if possible on a video camera and then let's see it several times. Let's be objective with ourselves, first we make a list of the positive things that we see and then a list of those that we have to improve.
5) Let's meet the public.
Let us investigate who will be, how many will be, their degree, their professional identity, etc. Knowing who will be will be positive. Let's avoid thinking that there will be important people. All those who come to listen to us do so because they want to learn from us. Let's make a list of questions we think they would ask us and have the answers at hand.
6) Let's keep control over concerns.
Concern is written with the prefix pre and the word occupation, which means that what we do is deal with something before it actually happens. It is said that 80% of our concerns never occur. Our challenge, then, is to fill our minds with how positive that experience will be, how new we are going to learn and how valuable it will be to help our public.
Facing stage fright is possible and defeating it forever can be a reality. As we know very well, to learn to swim it is necessary to get into the water several times until we have mastered the techniques. Likewise, to learn to speak in public successfully, it is necessary to stand in front of an audience as many times as necessary until stage fright is bearable, dominable and manageable.
If you need support, advice and / or ideas to face and defeat your stage fear, write to us with confidence, we are here to support your personal success.
In the following video, Joe Kowan, a graphic designer and aspiring folk musician, talks about his experience dealing with stage fright, an honest and inspiring talk where you can see that, although it is not easy, it is possible to face it and dominate it.
