Why do we feel stage fright?

You’re there, you’re about go on stage ready to speak. You feel nervous, anxious, in other words you start to feel fear - what causes that?

Beliefs - specifically limiting beliefs.

What is a Belief?

A belief is our view of how we see the world, how we interpret the world around us, which in turn, affects our thoughts, actions and behaviours. This means that everything that we experience is a function of our beliefs. Therefore everything that we see/do/feel, is inline with our beliefs.

A limiting belief, is a belief that limits our world view, therefore is one that limits our thoughts, actions and behaviours.

How does it affect being on Stage or any other public performance?

If you’re afraid to speak on stage or in public, you may have beliefs such as its wrong to make a mistake, people don’t want to hear what I have to say, they way to survive is to have people think well of me. Having these beliefs it makes sense that you would be fearful being on stage.

Why is fear of being on stage (or any public speaking) the no1. fear?

If you have beliefs such as it wrong to make a mistake, what do you do? You work extra hard, you double check and triple check your work to make sure there isn’t a mistake.

When you are on stage, you have nothing to hide behind, its your beliefs that are there, exposed. This is why you hear some actors say, when the camera is rolling or when I’m playing my character, those fears aren’t there - in other words they have something to hide behind.

What can you do?

Find and eliminate the beliefs that are causing your stage fright.

To find them, you can do the following:

• Close your eyes and imagine you are about to go on stage.

• Notice the feelings that are coming up for you, whether they are anxiety, apprehension

• Related to those feelings, notice what thoughts are coming up for you

Are there thoughts such as I cant do this, I better not get it wrong →These will point to your beliefs that you have…

Until next time,