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Performance Anxiety - Overcoming Nervousness on Stage - 5 Tips

If you've never performed anything to a group of people before, you will most likely find that the closer the time comes to stepping onto the stage, the more anxious about your presentation. Just because you are nervous it doesn't mean that you still can't do a good job.

Here are 5 tips that will help you overcome stage fright.

1. Don't Fight It

As the great Australian blues guitar player Songdog once said: "Nerves are good. You're designed to have them so that means you're functioning properly. No nerves means no emotion and no emotion means no soul."

The first key to overcoming performance anxiety is to accept that it is a natural occurrence. If you try and fight it, you'll only make yourself tenser.

2. Focus On Your Breathing

Often when we are stressed our breathing goes from being calm and regulated to inconsistent and constricted. If you pay attention and ensure that you are breathing in a controlled manner, it will help you to steady your nerves. Keep this in mind before and while you are on stage.

3. Allow Yourself To Make Mistakes

Often our anxiety comes from worrying about what other people will think of us. Everyone wants to feel that they are accepted and what they are doing is seen by others as good. This becomes even more so when you are in front of many people with all the attention focused on you. You can take some of the pressure off yourself by allowing for mistakes. As long as you keep moving along with what you are doing, mistakes will go unnoticed by the majority of people.

4. Over Prepare

The best way to ensure that you can overcome the mind game is if you know that you can do a great job. The more preparation you do, the more confidence you'll have in yourself. If you over-prepare, you will be believe in yourself and know that you can deliver the expectations you put on yourself. If you are making a presentation then do a dress rehearsal in front of members of your family. If you are performing music then find an audience of friends or find an open mic night to play at.

5. Get Back On The Horse!

The more you perform the more you will be able to steady yourself and learn how to control any nervousness that you encounter. You will learn how to control your energy and focus on what you are doing. Look for as many opportunities as possible and fine tune your presentation or your act in front of an audience. The more you do it, the better you'll get.

Performance anxiety is a natural occurrence that most people go through. By accepting that nervousness is a natural part of being on a stage in front of people and having good preparation, you will find that you will be able to overcome your worst fears about delivering to a room full of people.