any advice on how to overcome stage fright?

Question

I have drama class next semester and that isnt far. In drama class we have to act in front of lots of people the only problem is that I have stage fright. how do i overcome it in order to past this class and not make a complete fool of myself?

Answer 1

1.) Practice your part, so that you know it by heart. Remember the words of the person who speaks before you, so you recognize the cue for you to speak. Practice in front of family and friends, so that you are used to performing in front of people.
2.) Gain confidence in yourself, by reciting your lines in front of a mirror. Watch your mannerisms, look at how you move your hands as you speak. Try different ways of saying the same words or sentences. Wear the same outfit while watching yourself.
3.) Have a water bottle with you while you wait. Sipping on water helps lubricate the throat and helps your voice a lot. Also lemon honey tea is great because it tastes great and helps calm your nerves. Take some with you in a flask if you’re allowed to.
4.) While you wait, take deep long breaths. Breathe in very slowly, hold for a couple of seconds and then let the breath out very slowly. Keep your voice warm by humming softly whenever you can.
5.) Concentrate on what you are about to do. Forget about the audience. Make believe that you are in front of the mirror or family. Go over your act prior to leaving the house. Know that you know what you are about to perform on stage, is well learned. Whether you are going to dance, sing, or perfom in a play with others. Take a deep breath and go!

*Tips
- If you forget a word, do not stop, just continue. Try to use other words that were not in the script. If your scene partner makes a mistake, do not react to it. Simply ignore the mistake, or, if it was too large to let pass, improvise around the error.
- If you mess up a step when dancing, no one will ever know, unless you stop. Continue and they will think it is part of the dance.
- Some of our greatest performers get stage fright. Do not think you are alone. Just get on with it, and soon you will be so engrossed that you will forget you are onstage.
-You’ll feel nervous when you first start out, but it will get easier as you get used to performing in front of crowds. An added plus is you’ll feel better after you’ve done your performance. All of your work and nerves will be paid off.

*Warnings
- Make sure you go to the bathroom before getting up on stage.
- Don't eat too much before going on stage.

Positive self talk . Encourage yourself , be your own cheering section .
Do the self talk silently of course .

Hope this helps you!

Answer 2

Great question. I too had suffered with stage fright before I became confident in my abitlities.

I have been in the modeling and talent industry for most of my life. I have found that you get over your fright by going for it! In other words, do the thing that scares you the most. Before I became a Professional Vocalist, I even fronted Kareoke Shows just to gain confidence. I tried to do everything in the public eye that would give me experience and confidence. Yes, you may fumble at first. So what! We all do it. You will find that most people in the audience are on your side anyway. They know you are scared, heck, they would be too. Before I modeled on a runway, I was so scared of falling off. So, I started doing every free runway show I was offered until I became confident enough to be really good at it. Then I got paid, and could call myself a true Professional.

"Also, practice makes perfect". You will find that the more prepared you feel, the better you will do. Listen, everyone gets nervous. If what you are doing didn't matter to you, and you didn't get nervous about it, you shouldn't be doing it. The more invested you are in the outcome, the more nervous you will be. Even in a dating relationship.

Most of all, believe in yourself. Know that you will eventually conquer most of your fears, but it will take time. Have your long term goals in mind and don't let anyone steal those away from you. Practice in front of a mirror and friends. Whoever will give you the time. Just keep doing it. You will get stronger. Believe me, I am living proof!

Answer 3

I took a drama class in high school just to get over stage fright when I give speeches in other classes. First become friends with the other students in the drama class. Once you do that it's not too hard to "act" on the stage because you are already comfortable with everyone else watching you. Good luck : )

Answer 4

A lot of proffesional actor do relaxation techniques such as meditation. It is highly effective. Put some relaxing music on, lay on you bed with closed eyes, when you are as realx as possible after a couple of minutes. Imagine in your head, that you are in front of the jury for your recall. In you imagination you are soo realx and everything is perfect. you audition is just the way you want it.
See when the human mind is in a relax state it can be tricked to believe that something actually is happening even though you are imagining it. (its like hypnosis).
So you are tricking you mind to believe that you just have been in front of the jury and nothing scary happened. If you do this a couple of times (once a day) before you audition, the day you actually are auditioning, you will not be soo nervous. Your brain will not try to protect you by making you nervous. as it already has already experienced some good auditions from you the earlier nights...and the fear of failing is over.

Answer 5

i swear this is a miricle worker i did it in my drama class and it relaxes you right down, try doing this all in one go if you can.

First do a general warm up shake out ur limbs roll ur neck, stretch etc. this is good enough to do just before you go onstage,

At home before you leave to go to the show try this..
lay on the floor on ur back, close your eyes, be aware of the contact between you and the floor feel the weight and the space bettween your limbs, feel your self comfortably sink into the floor, slowly raise each leg being aware of the weight, and do the same with our arms, point your feet/toes up to the ceiling and out to the wall.

Next try a visual method, while still laying on the floor,and eyes closed find a relaxing setting somewhere that is personal and comforting to you, be aware of the senses the sounds, the smell, what you can see, now imagine on the floor infront of you is a pecie of coloured paper scrunched in a ball, pick it up, and unwrap the paper imagine inside there is a stone/pebble, hold it in your hand. focus all the relaxing enery into this stone that your feeling now. then calmly open your eyes, and roll onto your side and very very slowly get up to aviod injury.

Whenver you need to feel your relaxing energy imagine the stone in your palm and the setting whenever you need to calm down, which would be a perfect quick visualisation to do before you go onstage after your warm up.

Hope this helps break a leg x x x

Answer 6

I have been acting for a while now and still get stage fright right before a show...what i do is look at one person the whole time....but i make sure i know this person...

Answer 7

I had stage fright b4 I just stop caring about what people think and know it doesnt bother me.(if your old enough have a drink or two to relax) do something that relaxs you b4 you put on the play it will help ..

Answer 8

I've had my fair share of acting on stage years ago. Now I am a public speaker. But I believe the strategies I used to overcome stage fright when I was an actor on stage did not change now that I am a speaker.

Here are my best strategies:
1. I always come on stage prepared. I study, research, and meditate on what I will do.
2. I visualize what I am supposed to do. I literally imagine the end results of my time on stage
3. I practice my lines, gestures, timing, stories AT LEAST three (3) times

Hope that helps!

If you need more info, check out http://www.public-speaking-is-easy.com/stage-fright.html

God bless!

Answer 9

The best thing to do is to start acting out in front of people now
(ur friends). So that way when u do start drama ur heart wont be
skippin and u wont be turnin red.

Answer 10

I am sure you have heard this before but PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. The more you practice then the more confident you feel when you know that you know your stuff. Remember that most of the people watching you dont have the b@!!$ to do what you are doing so you are already better than they are in that sense. Practicing and knowing your stuff gives you confidence in your work. If all else fails, picture everyone in their underwear.