You have been going for vocal training and have been dreaming of the day when you would be able to perform before an audience. Preparations have been ongoing and the day is drawing nearer. What used to be an exciting prospect has now become something you dread – the actual performance day!
It is normal. You are not the only one who suddenly wants to run and hide from reality. The butterflies soon turn into locusts inside your tummy and you can almost see them flying from your mouth as soon as you start to sing. Here’s how to get a great performance happening, by Gretchen Rubin :
- Shift attention from yourself to the audience
As soon as you are able to stop thinking about yourself and how shaky you are, you will realize that there is so much more to focus on around you. If you allow yourself, you will soon be enjoying yourself!
Focus on the audience. See them, hear them, look out at them. Via Medium
- Get a grip on where you are
It is possible to be so tensed that you are not aware of your surroundings at all. Part of how to shift attention from yourself is to get acquainted with where you are. Enjoy the sights and sounds.
Acknowledge where you are. What venue, what city? Via Medium
- Don’t over expect from yourself
While it will give you great joy to see your audience entirely happy, that is not entirely dependent on you. Their happiness is influenced by all the things happening around them, such as their company, friends, and moods etc.
Remember that your performance is just one aspect of the audience’s experience, which is also colored by the people they’re with, what else they’ll do with their day, etc. Via Medium
- Encourage yourself
Remind yourself of other people’s performances and that they went well to help get rid of stage fright
Manage stage fright by thinking about others’ experience, instead of your own discomfort. Via Medium
- Be dynamic
Go with the flow, don’t be afraid of doing things you hadn’t planned for if the situation calls for it. It may be scary, but it will pay off. Some randomness doesn’t hurt.
Stay flexible, stay responsive to the audience and whatever happens. Via Medium
- Be aware of your effect on the audience
They will largely respond to you, for example, if you are uptight, the audience will automatically be uptight. So relax!
- Perform what you are comfortable with
You do not have to look for something complicated to perform, just do what you are comfortable doing. That way you will be more relaxed.
Because it’s important to be at ease, use material that you’re comfortable with, so that you can be present in the performance, instead of struggling with your performance. (This one surprised me –so often we’re told to challenge ourselves at every turn, but Taylor points out that meeting a challenge makes it hard to be aware of the audience.) Via Medium
- Connect with your entire audience
Ensure you engage all the people from the back to the front. Make everyone feel special in your own unique way.
Direct your attention to the people at the most distant parts of the room, then gradually work your way forward — you don’t want to lose people in the back because you’re preoccupied with the ones closest to you. Via Medium
- Be in control
One way to achieve control is to be tranquil.
Stillness is essential to establishing control; be willing to be still. Via Medium
- Distractions
Try as much as possible to ensure that sound distractions such as ventilation systems and air conditioners do not drown out your sound.
- Receive applause graciously
When you begin your performance and at the end, take a bow and allow people to applaud you. It is sometimes one of the most difficult things to do, but it matters a lot that you do it.
Accept applause. Don’t use “thank you” as a signal that your performance is over. Rather, at the end, be still, take a slight bow to signal the end, then if they applaud, thank them. Along the same lines, at the beginning, be still, give a slight bow, accept applause. Via Medium
Featured Image: Image Credit
//TRANS
Performance Team Interview for Dazed
“Feeling when you first stand on stage?”#호시 #디노 #준 #디에잇 #세븐틴
photo credit: 1713_1211 pic.twitter.com/zjHOaZ5k3I— 도끄염미 (@two_oh_teen) October 21, 2016
We had a talent show in school one time. Some guys got on stage & smoked for straight 5mins before we realized that was their ‘performance’?
— Georgesketch ? (@Georgesketch) October 17, 2016
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