3 Tips that will help you stand taller on the Stage

Source: Apple Keynote

One of the biggest fears people have, apart from going bankrupt and getting eaten alive by your favourite deadly predator, is the fear of the stage. The fear of public speaking. And though it is not as deadly as the other two examples I gave, the fear of being on stage makes people perspire, hysterical, panicky and the adjectives could go on longer than some people’s gig on stage.

And while we are at it let me tell you I had my own experience and qualms of being on stage during my school years. While most people (in the audience) would only notice the performance and judge it to be good or bad, it is usually the performer’s responsibility to take into account (and improve) his poise on stage to be comfortable with the gig. I realized somehow I was fortunate enough to have the aplomb of being and performing on stage. And so, after accounting for my own experience and reading and listening to multiple books and podcasts, I have come up with a few tips that could help you get over the abominable fear of stage (in order of precedence):

1. Physiological Sighs

So the first two tips come from a podcast I listen to (Think Fast Talk Smart) and they have this beautiful scientifically proven tip about a ‘Behind-The-Stage’ prep you need to do.

So they say that deep breaths when anxious before an event/situation does not help out. Instead exhaling emphasised breathing can help calm the neural system. You want to double inhale and then exhale (1–3 times). Take a breath in and then do a double intake of breath. The reason is as follows: Inside your lungs are alveoli that collapse inside the lungs when you are anxious. Double inhaling helps re-inflate them and then offload Carbon Dioxide through them while exhaling.

I am no med student but I think that sounds right. You could try this in any other anxiety-provoking situation too. Give it a try and let me know if it works. I have not been nervous before a performance so I couldn’t relate much to that. Rather, I would get nervous during the performance, in which case keep reading…

2. Framing the Situation