How to Avoid Stage Fright

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Did you know?

There are so many interesting facts about stage fright all over the internet. These facts have proven to be both interesting as well as educational for people who are trying to avoid stage fright. Facts are great for helping to avoid stage fright because they provide information about what is happening when you experience stage fright. This is turn will help you avoid those same issues the next time you start to become nervous or anxious about a presentation.

There is a particular web page that I have found to be very insightful. The web page dives further into stage fright and gives a bit more background on the issue that so many people face today. Below are just a few fun facts about stage fright. However, if you want to look at even more facts about stage fright and speech anxiety, you should take a look at Facts on Fear.

Here are the facts that I found particularly interesting:

Stage fright, also known as Glossophobia, is the number one fear across the globe. Some studies have even shown that some people would rather die than speak in front of a group of people.
3 out of 4 people, or 75%, suffer from stage fright.
Men and women both experience the same amount of speech anxiety.

Sometimes knowing the facts about the issue that you are faced with is a great way in avoiding and overcoming that issue. When it comes to stage fright, it is a good idea to know exactly what it is and how it affects not only you, but people all over the world as well. It helps everyone realize what exactly happens to people who suffer from stage fright. This is why learning more about the facts of stage fright will help avoid the issue in the long run.

Sources:
http://www.speech-topics-help.com/fear-of-public-speaking-statistics.html

What's Your Opinion?

As I mentioned in my previous blog, my opinion is that knowing the information needed and being prepared are the most important techniques when trying to avoid stage fright. I believe this is true because it gives the ability to not stress or become anxious about whether everything will be accurate.

Now, I want to hear from you. I want to know if you have an opinion on what the most important technique to getting over stage fright is. I also want to know why you think that this technique should be deemed the most important for avoiding stage fright.

Please post all of the responses in the comments section below. I will be posting the results of this poll based on the comments that are received.

Be Prepared and Know Your Information

Knowing your information and having your speech or presentation prepared before the due date is a huge advantage in avoiding stage fright. In my opinion, this is probably the most important technique to use when trying to get over the fear of presentations. Knowing your information includes various different sections that need to be addressed in order to be fully prepared when it comes time to do the presentation. These sections include: choosing a topic and checking any other equipment that is necessary.

Firstly, when choosing a topic, it easier to know your information if it is relevant to you in some manner. This means picking a topic that you find particularly interesting, or something you know your audience will be interested in as well. This can also include a topic that you have previous knowledge about. Another major thing to remember is to be confident with the presentation. If you are confident with the work that has been done, it will be significantly easier to retain all the necessary information that needs to be said. Keep in mind, that even if you choose a topic that you know really well, practising for your performance or presentation will help ensure that the information is fresh in your mind.

Secondly, in order to be fully prepared, know that any other equipment being used in the presentation or performance is ready and working in perfect condition. If you know you are using some form of technology like a PowerPoint, double check that is it actually working properly. You will avoid a lot of anxiety if you know everything will run smoothly.

Picking a topic that is interesting to you or to the audience is an excellent way of making sure that you know all of the information that you need in order to do the presentation. As well, making sure that any equipment being used is running smoothly will ensure that you are completely prepared on the day of your presentation or performance. Taking these two steps in being ready for your presentation will definitely help you avoid the unnecessary stage fright that would have been experienced if they had not been completed.

Sources:

Business Communication: Process and Product

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Deep Breathing

The textbook "Business Communication: Process and Product" mentions that every individual who faces something challenging reacts using the famous fight-or-flight response. In case you don't know what this response does, it is the driving force behind bodily reactions including an elevated heart rate and butterflies in your stomach. These are the reactions that are often associated with stage fright. One of the best ways to calm your fight-or-flight symptoms is to do some deep breathing.

If a person becomes stressed or frightened, as they often would if they are stage fright, you should be able to notice that they like to hold their breath a lot. Another tendency is to also take short, quick breaths. These are the things that make their adrenaline start to rush and go into over drive very quickly. But, when the source of the stress is taken care of, a giant deep breath or “sigh of relief” is let out and this returns the body to a normal state again. This goes to prove how important deep breathing is when trying to avoid stage fright.

Breathing deeply is such an easy task to manage. It will keep the body calm under pressure and will help avoid spiking adrenaline and making you more nervous than you need to be. There are a few steps that can be taken to take deep breaths easily. These steps should help get you on your way to avoiding stage fright:

Take a huge breath in through your nose
Hold it for at least 5 - 10 seconds
Exhale through your mouth slowly

So, did you actually try doing it? If not, you should try it, it will really help calm you down when you are nervous.

Deep breathing is a great technique that does not take up too much time. It is an easy yet effective way of controlling your body’s reactions and ensuring that you do not become too overwhelmed or stressed with your presentations. Overall, deep breathing is a great way to control and avoid stage fright.

If you are looking for even more deep breathing techniques, I suggest you take a look at this site:
Deep Breathing Exercises

Sources:
http://www.chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com/anxiety-breathing-techniques.html

Business Communication: Process and Product Textbook

What Is Stage Fright?

Stage fright is a very common phenomenon that can be seen in just about any aspect of someone's life. Some of these aspects can include being at school, in the work place or even during an extra-curricular activity. However, most people have a tendency to believe that stage fright is only associated with the fear of public speaking, but it actually extends far past just speaking in front of people.

Stage fright, by definition, is the experiencing of nervousness, stress and anxiety before or during any form of presentation in front of an audience. This can include performances in the arts or even giving a speech in front of your boss. A main cause of stage fright is often a feeling of negative thoughts and physical reactions that make the situation worse. Suffering from stage fright means that you're are feeling threatened or overwhelmed from the thought of the presentation. Or that you are lacking self-assurance about the presentation.

There are techniques that can be practiced that will help in dealing with, or even overcoming, stage fright. These techniques do require a lot of practice and confidence on your part in order to be successful. One thing that needs to be done before you can start dealing with your stage fright is taking the time to figure out how bad of a case of stage fright you have.

The link below is a short quiz that will help you figure you just how bad your stage fright is. Feel free to post your results in the comment section below!
How stage fright are you? - Short quiz!

One of the most important things to remember about stage fright is that the majority of people experience some form a stage fright throughout their lifetimes. It is completely normal to have a fear of performing in front of an audience. Nevertheless, there are things that can be done to help control the fright and to even help ignore the fact that stage fright affects you.