Nerves

Did you know that fear of public speaking frequently ranks above fear of death in surveys?!  Unless you’re made of stone, or unless the stakes are so low that you just don’t care (and who wants to see that performance?), nerves are bound to plague you at least some of the time.  The great Laurence Olivier is reported to have suffered severe stage fright mid-career and as a veteran performer myself (OK, old), I can tell you that nerves never completely go away with more performance experience. 

That’s the bad news.  The good news is there’s a lot you can do to mitigate your nerves and deliver a strong, professional, expressive performance to be proud of.

The body has a very real, physical reaction to perceived fearful situations, called the “fight or flight” response, summoned by the body’s sympathetic nervous system.  Sufferers experience symptoms including racing heartbeat, rapid or labored breathing, stomachache, nausea, diarrhea, sweaty palms, dry mouth, tight throat, and trembling hands, knees and voice.  Not very conducive to singing, right?

A TWO-PRONGED APPROACH

First, change your thinking.  There are problematic ways of thinking that contribute greatly to nerves. 

Needing to Impress:  As a colleague, a former Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano, tells her students, “don’t impress, express!”  Fantasies of wowing your audience with your amazing talent is a form of delusion of grandeur which sets the bar too high (pressure) and leads to crashing disappointment. 

Competition:  If you’re constantly comparing yourself to others and your sense of self-worth is derived from your perception of how you measure up at any given moment, you are letting yourself in for an unpleasant roller-coaster ride.  There will always be people better than you and there will always be those not as “good” as you.  Let that go.  You can’t control that.  What you CAN do is work hard and be the best YOU that you can be in the moment.  In fact, a great way to combat that competitive feeling in any situation is to make the other people your comrades and allies – root for each others’ successes and you have an instant support system. 

Being Judged:  An audition is an opportunity to make and develop relationships with people in the industry.  If looked at that way rather than with an “I have to win” attitude, every audition can be a positive experience.  The auditors WANT you to be good – they want to fill their casting needs as quickly as possible.  At a performance, an audience – whether paying or consisting of family and friends at a student recital – is there to enjoy themselves.  They are rooting for you because they want to enjoy the program and, if they are YOUR family and friends, because they love you.  They will not know the little mistake you may have made or how much better it sounded in rehearsal.   Which leads me to another important factor in combating nerves:  preparation.

Preparation:  Did I mention preparation?  That means practice.  You practice not until you get it right, but until you cannot get it wrong.  Say your text over and over in your head throughout the day for weeks.  Write out your lyrics and memorize them as prose.  Know a shorthand of how each verse starts.  Practice the last section first sometimes.  Memorize all the counts before your entrances.  Pay attention to the accompaniment so you know how it fits with the vocal line.  Get the technical aspect into your muscle memory.  You can only do that with repetition.  Remember, the French word for rehearsal is répétition!  

The Unknown:  To minimize the unnerving effect of unknown variables, try to get all the information you can.  If it’s an audition, who will be the pianist?  Who will be hearing you?  What is the space like?  Try to go early to see the layout, sing a phrase or two to check out the acoustics.  Same thing for a performance if you are unfamiliar with the space. 

Not Good Enough:  Many of us have a tape looping in our heads constantly whispering (and sometimes shouting), “I’m not good enough.”  No matter how many compliments you receive, how many schools you get into or how many roles you garner, the rejections and negative reviews resonate more because they feed into the nagging suspicion that you’re no good.  That’s a toughie to change but not impossible and you can certainly soften it.  Recognize those thoughts when they come in and laugh at them – “there it is again”.  Know that the tape may be very, very old and may not even be YOUR tape but something you picked up along the way.  Know that it is not true.  You ARE good enough.  Here is a partial quote from the legendary modern dance pioneer Martha Graham:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” 

  

Second, physical practices to counter symptoms. 

Breathing/Meditation:  When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the first thing that’s affected is the breath.  Do lots of quiet, slow, deep breathing, taking the breath low into the body.  Beyond breathing exercises at the moment of maximal nervousness, it’s valuable to have a daily meditation or breathing practice you can call on at this time. 

Physical:  Running or other vigorous activity can divert some of the excess adrenaline.  Also, there are some comforting yogic physical postures, such as child’s pose and other forward bends that are calming.  Yawn/sighs are helpful to release the larynx and breath.

Chemical:  I’m not qualified to discuss medical interventions.  Anti-anxiety drugs and beta-blockers are used by some performers.  These should be seen as a last resort because of side effects, including throat dryness and numbing of affect, not to mention the potential dangers of abuse and addiction. 

This post got LONG.  There’s so much information available on this topic of interest to so many.  Here is a link to WedMD that is informative:  http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety

Let me know if you try any of these suggestions and how they work for you.  Toi, toi, toi and merde!