Reframing Nervousness
Experiencing Stagefright
Nerves. Anxiety. Stage fright. We've all had it and most of us have developed ways to deal with it to be able to perform in spite of it. One of the most successful strategies for me is rather counterintuitive and something I learned from an absolutely amazing theater director I worked with during my teenage years. We had practiced for weeks, if not months to put on the play "Momo" by Michael Ende - highly recommend if you haven't heard of it - while a children's book, it's an absolutely beautiful story about taking time for the things that are important in life. But I'm getting off track. We were a group of eight or nine more experienced actors supported by a group of around 15 younger children who had supporting roles.
The great premiere was coming up that night and we were all incredibly nervous. We knew we were prepared, but if you've ever had a big presentation without any notes or been part of a play, you know that that doesn't help much when you're imagining all the lights on you, out there, it's your turn to speak your first line and you're completely blanking, forgetting your line, your hands all sweaty, your knees all shaky while everyone you know and love is there to watch. Yes, I have a penchant for the dramatic. Well, we all had our way of dealing with it - some of us would find a quiet place and try to meditate (me), others would practice scenes on stage as long as the audience wasn't yet let in, and others again would be as loud and rambunctious as they possibly could to distract themselves from what was coming up.
Making my Nerves work FOR me
That night our theater director changed my life (my penchant for the dramatics coming in again, but she did give me a very important piece of advice that has helped me tremendously since). She had us form a circle, walk through some warm-up exercises, and then asked if we were nervous. We all more or less enthusiastically told her that yes, of course, DUUUH, we were nervous! What was she expecting?? And she just looked back at us calmly and told us: "Good. That means you won't be when you're on stage. Own it. Dive into it. Your body can't actually differentiate between being nervous and being excited - it's all adrenalin, so make it work for you."
We were stunned for about a second until the bell rang and we had to rush to get ready for our starting positions. I ignored it for the time being but that piece of advice has been guiding me in everything I've done since. While I don't fully agree that being nervous before means not being nervous during, I fully agree that you can learn to USE those nerves, that energy to build up your excitement for a presentation (or you know, going on stage in a theater).
Be nervous before (rather than during)
Reframing nervousness has worked wonders for me - I'll take a couple of minutes before most presentations, take a deep breath, and sink into that bundle of energy inside my belly - because while I feel "nervous", all it really is is a bundle of nerves, butterflies, adrenaline in my belly and then I'll try to work WITH that energy. Make it mine, let it push me forward, let it guide me, and rather than see it as a hindrance or a barrier to my success, I'll try to make it a part of it.
I'll still be nervous, don't get me wrong. However - being nervous before means I won't be during, right? Well, mostly, anyways.