 Pushpa Priya

Stage performance and anxiety are perfectly natural phenomena that occur in many people. Stage fright is not a mental disorder; rather, it is a normal reaction to stressful situation. Most people are fear-stricken before making presentation in front of audiences. Even successful people have reported such pre-stress. Before becoming a civil rights leader, Mahatma Gandhi struggled with public speaking skills. Similarly, many celebrities, leaders, academicians admit to have experienced the same. What intrigued me to pick up this issue is many students and intellectual aspirants fail to present his/her views or contents of deliverance in front of a mass. They lack mass-facing skills. There are numerous ways to overcome stage fear that results in overall development of an individual. Its solution can be found in knowledge of contents, therapy in condition of chronic performance anxiety and life style changes.
The first and foremost method to overcome or remove stage fear is to have a good command over the subject matter. If one is well known about the contents then he has no reason to be nervous. One should prepare the contents in advance and read it aloud and overhear his/her own voice. In addition to it, practice is more important to boost confidence. Knowing the contents helps but can’t eradicate the problem, therefore, one should do consistent practice to furnish presentation. And one should comprehend the speech inside out and also be aware of its objective rather than memorizing the contents of the speech. In this way, one can explain things in other ways in case he/she forgets what to say and it also prevents one from panic.
In the same way, positive mindset is an essential quality to conquer fear. It is an act of giving positive reinforcement that acts magically in boosting confidence. Instead of saying “What if I forget the contents of my presentation?” try, “I will never really know what the audience will think of me, but I am going to give my best.” In other words, one needs to practise positive affirmation by positive self-talk every time that trains subconscious mind to act accordingly. In this sense, one should work on oneself to bring positive outcomes. If the performer is smiling, having interest in his topic of deliverance and maintaining eye contact with audiences, everyone will be interested to listen. Being yourself is the best and it helps one to be more natural and meaningful. Performers start being artificial and nervous in process of imitating others’ style.
Most importantly, positive visualization helps in effectual presentation. One should imagine delivering effective presentation filled with humour, confidence, knowledge and wisdom in front of the mass. The presenter should always visualize success by focusing on strength and handling challenging situations. Similarly, the presenter should focus fear to true purpose, that is, intention or objectives behind message to audiences. And the performer should refuse any thoughts that bring distraction. For example, the thoughts that create self-doubts and low self-esteem should be avoided.
Stage fear results in someone’s lower self-esteem or self-confidence which hampers career growth. People experiencing chronic performance anxiety can go for therapy where experts will train with some mental strategies to reduce stage fright. Furthermore, life style changes act as a miracle in performance anxieties. Yoga, meditation, breathing exercises should be adopted in daily life style. And decreasing caffeine intake, remaining hydrated, having healthy food before performance may have positive results.
In the same way, sound sleep the night before performance is equally important. The performer should stop being self-critical. For instance, one should not think about being judged by the audience around.
Breathing exercise boosts one with enormous energy filled with positivity and helps in healing all kinds of fears and doubts. Nervousness takes one’s balance and it carries with fast and short breaths. One needs to go through deep breaths in and out before going to the stage.
It really calms the mind and uplifts the level of energy in positive direction. In fact, being aware of breath gives control over one’s nerves. It also adds power and strength to voice. Moreover, principle of acceptance should be adopted in daily lives.
Performers should not fight with stage fear, rather work with it by accepting anything that comes along peacefully. The thing audiences watch is patience and calmness. So the performer should not panic in a challenging situation, rather accept it calmly and start being natural by giving up an attempt to be perfect that rewards him/her with better results.
Above all parents’ motivation is a must that determines the performer’s performance on stage. They should teach their children to believe in their own capabilities and also teach them to be confident and optimistic. Let the children visualize the stage full of audiences applaud after a fantastic performance. Such image in mind will go a long way in his/her self-esteem.
Moreover, parents should also train the children about time management from early childhood days. It is essential to reach the venue of performance well in advance. Being late results in nervousness and anxiety.
Parents should give nutritious and healthy diet like fresh vegetables and fruits that keep the child feel light and confident before performing on the stage. Coffee and other caffeinated drinks should be avoided.
Moreover, parents should teach the child to turn her/his palms up, take a deep breath in, and exhale the “T” sound, “t,t,t…” This can assist the child with calm and stable mind before starting a presentation. According to Forbes, parents should encourage their child to sit up straight, close his/her eyes while focusing on his/her breathing and bring attention back to breathing each time his/her mind wanders. This meditation should be practised and it will teach the child to breathing techniques that he/she can rely on to keep calm during the presentation.

The author is a Lecturer of English at Orchid International College, affiliated to Tribhuvan University