WATCH YOUR MOUTH!

Greetings, fellow music-makers. 

In today's post we’ll focus on the subject of performance jitters, AKA: “Stage Fright.” Did you know that speaking / performing before others is ranked as the #1 fear in America? So if you’ve ever felt shaky before playing at a recital, audition, school concert, or family gathering ... you are not alone! And you are in very good company, I might add. The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Huey Lewis, and Britney Spears know exactly where you’re coming from! Read on.

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- Excerpted from my "Onstage and In-Control: 10 Easy Ways to Clobber Stage Fright." - LEARN MORE

Stage f-f-f-fright!

What a fear-invoking term! It can give a body the j-j-jitters just saying it. It sounds every bit as much like a curse as the name suggests. “Stage fright! Egad! Run!”

But, you know, language is a funny thing. Often the words we use help to create the very reality they describe.

Just imagine the probable outcome in life for a boy named “Fifi”by his parents.Or a girl named “Spike.” Reflect on the future performance of a capable worker labeled “incompetent loser” by his boss.

Yes, names, terms, and labels can easily create their own reality.

The same goes for those feelings we experience before and during a performance. With a name like “stage fright,” who wouldn’t feel afraid?

But what if you didn’t call it that? What if you knew that the feeling we call “fear,” or “fright,” is actually the exact same sensation as that which we call “excitement.” Same sensation, different label.

So, when we say we have stage fright, could it be that we are, in fact, excited about an upcoming performance and are simply mislabeling the feeling?

Furthermore, all feelings are actually forms of energy. Our fright, or excitement, is just that. It is the energy we need to do our best, to excite or inspire our audience, and to execute our music with enthusiasm, precision, and power.

So, when you’re hit with another bout of jitters, knotted stomach, or cold sweats, consider that perhaps you need a new, more positive label than “stage fright,” one that empowers rather than debilitates.

Consider that what you are feeling is perhaps better referred to as:

Performance Readiness Energy

Try saying that right now. Performance readiness energy. Get familiar and comfortable with it. Then consider yourself lucky that you have this energy to help you do a great job. To help you remain excited and on the ready. And consider the alternative: remaining un-energized, unfeeling, un-rearin’-to-go.

This puts a different spin on things, doesn’t it?  It’s hard to remain in the “grip of fear” if we refuse even to acknowledge that fear is what has its grip on us in the first place!

It’s hard to worry that our jitters are going to wreak havoc on our muscle control when we stop calling them jitters and begin to appreciate the fact that our muscles are about ready to burst at the seams with this very necessary rush of energy roaring through them, ready to put an extra spark of “juice” into our music just when we need it most.

“I’m not shaky,” you say.  “I’m pumped!”

Use the power of this more empowering term “performance readiness energy” in order to see your previously unwelcome feelings in a new light. Remember that the words you choose create the reality you experience. So choose wisely!

"I don't get stage-fright, I actually love the energy, I love the spontaneity, I love the adrenaline you get in front of a live audience, it actually really works for me."  -- Brooke Burke

P.S.: Want to learn a whole lot more about whipping that "stage-fright?" Check my my unique "Learn & Affirm" audio program "Onstage and In-Control: Ten Easy Ways to Clobber Stage-Fright" available at CD Baby CLICK HERE

For all musicians, vocalists, and performers. This one-hour "learn & affirm program will give you the confidence you need to stay loose and perform your absolute best in front of any audience!