Getting Over Stage Fright
Written by singerii // // Performance Advice for Singers // 12 Comments
Someone recently emailed me, asking how to get past stage fright. I answered, but while I was writing it I though it was so relivant that I decided to ask if they minded if I share it with everyone. They agreed, so here it is! Enjoy!
The question went a little something like this…
Hey Ken,
I’ve been battling with shyness and stage fright for years. I love to sing, and want to share my talent with the world, but find it nearly impossible to get our in front of others and perform. What can I do to change that?
Thanks,
Anonymous
Anonymous
>
My response…
Hey Anonymous,
Getting past nerves and shyness is something that nearly every singer has to master, but it doesn’t have to be that hard. It’s all a matter of how you see it (as is most of life).
You see, we choose thoughts of shyness just as we choose the thoughts that accompany that nervous feeling. The biggest difference between me and you isn’t the nervousness, but what we feed it mentally. Most beginning performers sit back and stress before they sing. They mentally go over all the things that could go wrong, they tell themselves they’re going to forget their words, and they just work themselves up.
…I do the opposite.
Before I go out on stage, I’m jumping up and down to get pumped up! I’m visualizing the performance going EXACTLY the way I want it to go, imagining the whole song going perfectly, and the audience responding with a thunderous applause. This may seem silly, but when you feed that nervous energy with positive thoughts like that, you generate excitement. When you feed that nervous energy with thoughts of fear and doubt, then performing is going to be about as fun as getting a cavity filled at the dentist.
I’d use the same trick to get over shyness. We choose thoughts of shyness (I know I did for years!!!). But, the easiest way to get past that is choosing to view ourselves differently. You are the only person who can change you, and the first step to any change is changing your thoughts. See yourself as an outgoing, talented singer whose on a mission to share your gift with the world! At first, it’ll be really hard, but it’ll get easier.
Try this exercise… Take 5 minutes before going to bed each night to close your eyes and see yourself ENJOYING performing in front of a crowd of people. See these mind movies as vividly as possible, really giving them detail. The reason this will help is that it’ll give you performance experience, even though you didn’t have to physically live it. To your brain and subconscious mind, it’s all the same. I know this exercise may sound a little weird, and it will take some commitment, but if you do this, I promise you that singing in front of others will get easier.
I genuinely hope that this helps and that you try these exercises. Do them for at least ninety days and you’ll be shocked at the difference you’ll see. Alrighty, well I need to get back on my newest project. Thanks for writing and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!
Happy Singing,
Ken
12 Comments on "Getting Over Stage Fright"
Stage fright is a big problem for me and it has kept me from doing the things I like to do. I read about stage fright on your website and tried fixing a few things and it really helped my singing out! Thank you!!!
> Response
You’re Soooooo Welcome! Thanks for sharing!
Hey,
I have only recently discovered my talent of singing and I’m 12. I wouldn’t say I’m perfect because I sometimes go out of tune on the higher bits. Is this beacause I’ve only recently started singing ? Could I fix this and make my voice stronger?
> Response
You can certainly improve pitch accuracy. In my experience, you can do this through one of two ways. 1. You just need to listen more intently and make sure that what you’re singing is accurate. 2. Sometimes a lack of balance in the voice can lead to the pitch being off, in which case, I’d take a look at some of these other articles and try to balance things out so that you’re using less effort while singing.
Hopefully this helps!
Very good commitment
Thank you sir thank you your advise in singing
sir Thank you very very much to you.
You’re so welcome!
I love singing, and I think I’ve got the right style, but I’m just so unconfident about singing in front of other people. I mean, I entered a very small talent show in a youth club and, I won that, but I had to do it to prove that I did have at least something. I’m starting to lose that little gained confidence I had. I can’t even sing in front of people I know.
Help :O
Confidence doesn’t come from winning a competition or others telling you that you’re doing a good job… it comes from within. One of the hardest things can be getting over that initial hump. It took me 3 or 4 years of performing 3 or so times a year to get past it myself.
It wasn’t until I started working at a theme part doing 4-5 shows a day, 5 days a week that I realized two things that helped me get past my stage fright. Those two things were:
1. It doesn’t matter how much your practice or prepare, there are times that you’re GOING to mess up.
2. The only person who remembers it more than 5 minutes afterward is YOU!
The nervousness comes from the inside. Once you can train yourself to get past your own negative thinking, performing comes easier and easier!
Just keep performing as much as you can, though it may be difficult at first, and after a while it becomes second nature.
Best of luck to ya!
Ken
Hey! I’m new to this site and I have a question. I’m 13 and Im doing a really big singing competetion and there’s going to be lots of producers there. I know what song I’m going to sing and everything, but everytime I try to sing if front of my mom I freeze. But I did a singing audition for my school’s play (they’re doing Annie) I did perfectly fine. And there was tons of people watching me. What should i do? Any help? I’m desperate.
> Response
I’m getting to this a little late, but I’d say don’t worry about it. Sounds like the issue is more you singing in front of your mom than it is anyone else. It’s really not that uncommon to feel that way. Think about it… you don’t care what a bunch of people you don’t know think, but someone you’re as close to as a parent… well that’s a little bit different. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll do wonderful. Best of luck!
About 2 years ago i discovered that i could sing. I can sing infront of people i know, with altittle bit of unease. So i have a performance infront of 350 people and i am very scared, but excited, But when i sing my mind goes blank and i forget the words and i shake.. My friends always say that i am real good and its what i want to do when im older. Is there a way to feel confident in the performance.
Thanks x
And by the way im doing this performance to show people what i can do and to see if i can improve my stage fright.
> Response
The tips above are a great start. I also wrote a little something else here – http://www.askavocalcoach.com/?p=63 . Beyond all that, I’d say the best piece of advice I can give you is perform as much as you can until it becomes second nature to you. Good luck with it!
Hi Ken I have the same problem I love singing but I’m nervous to sing infront of some people I’ll try what you said if it works I’ll so my talent to the world once I entered a talent show I auditioned I didn’t make it because there were so many people who were good they said I was good but I didn’t get in sadly and once I wanted a choirs solo I auditioned I didn’t get it even though they said I’m a beautiful singer and once I sang infront of 30000000 people and they cheered and clapped they thought I was a beautiful singer they wanted my autograth and I was like aww yay SO I’ll try your advice
Sounds like you know some things about the law of attraction.
> Response
I might be familiar with it a little
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