I’m hoping some of you Dopers out there will share some of your stories about speaking in public, performing, or just being on stage, and what you go through before, during, and after concerning stage fright. I have a gig coming up with my band that is for a rather large crowd, and though I don’t think I have stage fright, I do have the nervousness and rapid heart thing going on. I’m not an extremely experienced performer but I have performed at parties, weddings, karaoke, and open mic nights here and there.
Please share your experiences (even the funny and embarrassing ones :)) and advice on what works for you and what doesn’t.
I can’t say I’ve tried the “picture everyone naked” theory, but if you have and it worked, I’d love to hear abou it
I’ve performed in front of large groups instrumentally, with a jazz band. This isn’t so bad until I solo. Even then, it’s just the flushing/heart palpitation thing.
My other experience with stage fright is from reading poetry. It was horrible. I absolutely could not let it stand on its own - inserting disclaimers and little comments in the middle, because I was so nervous. That and horrible shakes. It really just takes practice, I think. Definitely avoid that sort of stuff. Nothing is worse than saying “Well, it’s kinda stupid…” or “It’s not really that good, but…” when you’re presenting your work.
Public speaking tends to make a bit shaky as well, but not as bad.
I often succumb to “stage fright”. I am in a job where we have to submit to random drug testing. This requires you to pee in a cup with somebody watching. I often have problems “performing”. We call this “stage fright”.
I always got a touch of stage fright when I used keyboards that were being run by computers/sequencers. It seems anything that CAN go wrong DOES.
I fixed some of this by having a set list that only used sequencers every other song. Then if something crashes I’d have a song to recover (or if it crashed half way though the song I’d only have to fake it halfway though)
As for regular sets, I’d get a little nervous before the show, but now bad. I just tried to keep my mind off the show until the light went on. Once the set starts it was smooth sailing.
I also kept a general “who cares” attitude and was up on stage to only amuse my bandmates. This helped a lot. Of course, the croud sees a band that gets along and this seemed to get a better response. We played a joke on stage on our singer (something minor) but the entire band attitude on stage was so light that night people said it was one of our better shows.
The first time I performed a wedding, I was scared out of my mind. I had to stand at the podium while the entire congregation found their seats. I think the only thing worse than having 50 people watch you speak is having 50 people watch you just stand there doing nothing until the show’s ready to start. When it finally started, I think I performed the entire ceremony with my face buried in my program/script book. At least I got the bride and groom’s names right. Had anything gone wrong, I wouldn’t have had any idea how to handle it.
Now, 2 years and 200 ceremonies later, I can do the whole thing in Japanese without looking at my book once, and am calm enough to handle any mishaps that occur along the way.
First time I sang solo was in front of my 9th grade English class. We’d been studying ballads, and we had to write one. We got extra credit if we put ours to music and performed it, so I did. Dragged my guitar on the school bus and everything. I was shaking like crazy - which made the accompaniment that much more difficult since it was picked rather than strummed.
Anyway, I got thru it, and the class clapped, and I wanted to keep going. Applause is addictive! Since then, I’ve sung a bunch, including for my sister’s wedding, and the first song is always the hardest. As long as I was prepared, I did fine.
The worst case of stage fright occurs when you’re on stage and someone forgets a line. Out of politeness, you don’t want to just run over their lines, but when they give you that “Oooooh, shiiit” look, it can be rather offsetting. That, and that moment right before you go on stage and you forget what the hell you’re doing. That happens a good amount. But once you get into the swing of things, it all goes away.
I did a good amount of acting in high school, lots of music starting in grade school and into high school, and did a moderate amount in college, and it’s all the same: An hour before the show, my heart starts to beat faster, my bladder gets smaller, and I fidget. All the way up until that first foot steps out onto the stage, and then it all just melts away. Once you get into that “zone,” you’re fine.
Good luck on the performance, and remember…if you get nervous, just imagine everyone imagining you in your underwear. And that there’s a giant chicken in the audience. For some reason, that always makes me feel more relaxed.
Seven, I just checked out your web page and music. Very nice I’m listening to Sidewalk right now. I also must add I’m very impressed with your website.
If your interested there are some MP3’s of my band if you click on the www link below (that is if AOL decides to let you).
When I was on stage professionally, I always had some butterflies. The handful of times that I did not (generally toward the end of a long run) were some of my worst performances. So now if I don’t have some jitters before speaking or doing something in front of an audience, I will try to create them (would you say I now have stage fright about not having stage fright?).
When I read Sir Lawrence Olivier’s autobiography, I was surprised to find out he had incredible stage fright, so bad in fact, he would regularly throw up before stepping on to the stage. I have also heard that Barbara Striesand has incredible stage fright and has to be literally shoved onto stage at every performance.
I sang in a rock band about ten years ago (Am I really that old?? That’s what old people say!!!), and I would terrible stage fright before a gig. Starting about two days ahead of time, I would gradually begin tensing up into a single huge ball of anxiety. I would snap at roommates, get heart flutters, be unable to concentrate, etc.
Then when the band had assembled and we were loading equipment and all, it would go away, because then I’d realize that I now had no choice. It was too late to back out. I was going up there and I was going to suck or I was going to rock, but the decision to get up there and sing the songs was now firmly made.
And then I’d relax and go up on stage (one foot in front of the other), and we’d usually suck, but at least we were doing it.
I also used to get stage fright on the first day of the semester when I was teaching (university) English. Every semester, even as I watched the freshmen get younger every year. So I learned to walk up the stairs to class very slowly, so as not to get out of breath; arrive right on time, NOT early; begin talking loudly as soon as I was in the room; and (this is important) the LAST things I’d do before entering the room were (a) get a drink of water and (b) make sure my fly was zipped up.
Also I’d do things like plan ahead what I would wear, get a haircut the week before class, etc., because when you’re up there trying to keep their attention, you do NOT want to be worried about your appearance at all.
That’s what I know. Oh yeah, don’t picture everyone naked. Unless you do that all the time.
Back when my band was up and running we would enter band contests. It got to a point where we could decide beforehand what place we wanted to finish, 1st, 2nd etc.
ANYway, we were standing stage left having just finished and were watching a group that called themselves Dropkick Mussolini. The lead singer/guitarist stepped up to the mike, hit a chord on his guitar, pissed his pants and puked all over the mike.
Needless to say, they did not win.
PS. Vomit smells even nastier when it is sizzlin’ hot.
I auditioned for my 7th grade play, Li’l Abner, even though I have never been able to sing a note in my entire life - I am utterly and resoundingly tone deaf. The first part involved singing with a group - fine - and acting on stage - fine again. I made it to callbacks, and I was ecstatic.
Then our callback assignment was explained - in front of the 100 or so other callbackees, I had to sing a song, solo, on stage. I got increasingly nervous, and finally it was my turn. The piano started, but I had to clear my throat, and I sort of hacked a bit on stage, then tried to catch up with the music instead of jumping in. It was so terrible. It was the worst. I didn’t get a part.
In high school, I entertained my love of theatre by joining tech crew. Much more fun when no one can see me.
One day in my 9th grade Civics class, the teacher decided it would be a nifty idea if students performed their own little renditions of the national anthem for extra credit or a gold star or something like that. Anyway, the big day came and we had a flute or two, a recorder hear and there, a singer, and a whole lotta kazoos-- the infamous “Kazoo Chorus.” At this point I had been playing guitar for oh, about two years and one of my buddies managed to goad me into taking a crack at Jimi Hendrix’s take on the tune-- sans hallucinogens of course. I was nervous as hell- sweaty palms, heart beating through chest, ect- but it was going better than I had expected when I got hung up overemphasizing a bend while wah-ing furiously and pretty much forgot the rest of the tune right there. My only saving grace was the fact that- as most who have heard this particular Hendrix recording are aware- Jimi did a lot of improvising. Suffice it to say that I strung everyone along with a lot of trilling and chording and somehow managed to convince people I knew what I was doing. My heart didn’t stop pounding until a few hours later, but I got the credit. I still get really nervous playing for groups larger than 2 or 3 people today. I don’t really know how to “get over” stage fright because I never have. People always told me that it would go away as I had more experience playing in front of crowds, but it didn’t.
Oh yeah, anyone who has ever participated in a chair-test in a middle/highschool band can tell you what agony it was to sit there and play a piece for your director while 200 other kids who knew what the song was supposed to sound like listened along.
From the ages of 4 - 11 I took piano lessons from a very laid-back, creative, fun piano teacher. The recitals he organized were likewise fun and laid-back – they were held in the library of the building he taught in, he always opened them with a little speech saying that these pieces we would play were works in progress, and we were allowed to take our sheet music with us up to the piano. I was never nervous performing in these recitals.
When I was 12, that teacher left and was replaced by a very strict, old-fashioned, former concert pianist who had just left her position at Peabody. Let’s just say I didn’t adjust well to the change in teaching style…and her recitals! They were held in the concert hall, on the large raised stage, with a old (and stiff) grand piano, and we were most definitely not allowed to bring our music with us.
Well, I have a hard time memorizing music in the first place. Add stress, and you’ve got a disaster on your hands. When I sat down at the piano, I forgot 2 of my 3 pieces I was to play, and my hands were shaking so much that I couldn’t press down the stiff keys to play the one piece I could remember. I was so embarrassed, I started to cry on stage, which made me even more embarrassed, and the audience applauded in sympathy, which made me feel even worse. It was awful, and I’ve had terrible stage fright ever since.
One funny thing, though… When I was in college, I wrote a paper on social phobia (which includes stage fright) and had to give an oral presentation in front of the class. Oh, the irony. So I broke the ice a little at the start of my presentation by saying that I was the visual aid. I pointed out my shaking hands and knees, my red cheeks, dry mouth, etc. Acknowledging to everyone that I was nervous made me feel better. (Well, a little.)
I’m listening to Sidewalk right now. I also must add I’m very impressed with your website.