When I first tell my clients to go outside and quickly walk around the block, or walk up and down the stairs a few times carrying a load of laundry, then rehearse their song or do a dry run of their signature talk, they look at me like I’m crazy, but the role of exercise in combatting performance anxiety should not be underestimated.
In addition to the benefits of physical conditioning, exercise releases brain chemicals that help us maintain proper balance of our nervous system and manage our mental/emotional responses to stress. Exercise increases our oxygen intake and blood circulation making us feel alert. It activates our chakra system and raises the vibration of our auric field. These are wonderful health benefits for an emerging or professional speaker. However, none of them are the reason I suggest exercise.
Many of my clients, speakers and singers alike, suffer from stage fright. For some, it’s a mild voice tremor, for others it’s full body shaking. I totally relate to this. I suffered from horrible stage fright as a young performer. So much so that one of my professors asked me to participate in a study of the effects of beta blockers on singers. I declined to participate and I’m glad I did. It led me to other natural ways to deal with the issue instead of using drugs.
There is plenty of advice out there on this topic. Tips I’ve come across range from breathing your way out of the fear of being judged to avoiding caffeine and smiling at the audience. The truth is there are no easy ways to eliminate stage fright. It’s not something that goes away in the blink of an eye just because you visualized a successful outcome. I say this as someone who used to tremble so badly that my voice would shake and my fingers would play all the wrong notes. There is no magic pill to “get over it”. It takes trust and trust takes work.
Overcoming stage fright is an act of self-trust. Think about it. You must learn to trust that your mind and body know what to do and that you will be able to successfully complete your planned task, be it speaking, singing, playing an instrument, pitching a product to a customer, going on a job interview or meeting blind date, without everything falling apart. This is why I ask my clients to do some form of exercise before rehearsing.
I use exercise as a way to simulate stress in the body outside of the performance space. The physical symptoms of stage fright often resemble how I feel after a hard work out. My heart is pounding, my lungs can’t get enough air and my muscles begin trembling. By simulating the physical manifestations of stress and stage fright, my clients learn to understand, respect, and cope with, their body’s natural nervous response before they stand in front of an audience.
Here’s another key; it’s experienced repeatedly. The unofficial first rule of speaking, or performing in any forum, is practice. But if you always practice under perfect conditions, what happens when you’re thrown a curve ball? Your moment to shine is too important to leave in the rehearsal hall or your living room. You must rehearse your talk while in a state of simulated stress so that your body’s reaction no longer surprises you and you no longer fear it.
If you can complete your talk or song in rehearsal while experiencing shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, a befuddled mind, and shaking hands, you are more likely to be able to manage those symptoms successfully when leading a group.
I ask you to think about your favorite form of exercise? How can you incorporate it into your talk, song, meeting, webinar, class or video preparation schedule?
You will soon find you are better able to work through your fight or flight response, and maintain mental focus under less than perfect circumstances, if you add this to your routine.
May you always have a good show!
