Overcome Stage Fright
We have been stuck at home for a while doing life stuff in front of our screens. We don’t have to talk to people personally and we feel that there’s safety behind the screen but make no mistake. At some in the near future, once the pandemic’s done, you are going to be out and about socializing and talking to people. You are going to be going back to the grind of talking to people even huge crowds of people for work or school. You are going to encounter that really terrifying experience called stage fright! Oh no! Here are three tips on how to overcome stage fright.
Stage Fright?
What is stage fright? It is nervousness before or during an appearance before an audience.. How do we overcome this? When it comes to fear, I always go back to 1 John 4:18.
Perfect Love
Love is the counter to fear. Love casts out fear! How do you use love exactly to counter stage fright? Here are 3 ways!
Love Your Audience
Facing a lot of people can knee-shakingly scary. When you’re on stage, the audience can seem so terrifying that they can look like the enemy but they are not.
Your audience have needs and they are actually willing to sit down and listen to you because they think you can perhaps answer some of those needs. So, they are not actually there to witness you fail. They do not want to watch a trainwreck. They want you to succeed so that they can get something out of your talk. They want to learn. They want to laugh. They want to lift up their spirits. It is not actually about you. It is about them.
Love them. Probe their needs. Prepare your talk. Practice hard. When you do these basic things for the sake of loving your audience, it will show in your presentation. Your body language shows that you actually care about them. The upside is that people care more about what you are saying when they see that you care about them.
Love Yourself
When we are afraid, we tend to magnify mistakes and criticize our capabilities. Be your best supporter. Going on stage is already a success. Standing on the platform is already a success. Speaking to a handful of people is already a success. There are a lot of people who think these are impossible things to do but you did them or you will do them.
So, what if you failed? In a week, a month, a year, a decade, people will have forgotten how you failed. No one is going to remember about that one time you failed. So, do not dwell on it. Life is too short. Dust yourself up and move on. How do you do this? Give yourself an out. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes.
Love Your Topic
It is really difficult to be afraid when you love your topic. The best way to love your topic is to know its significance. It is to know that your talk is important.
You are not just in front, on the platform, on the stage, on screen for nothing. Someone out there could really use what you have to say. Your classmates could learn from you. People could benefit from what your talk. If you are talking about Physics, tell them about the amazing real world applications of that particular topic and they will listen. If you are talking about gardening, tell them about it’s life changing effects on you and your environment and they will listen. If you are talking about God, then talk about how you have been blessed today and they will listen.
So those are the 3 tips to overcoming stage fright. You can also share your own ideas in the comments section below. Do check out my YouTube video on this particular topic too.
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