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More than stage fright. When speaking in front of an audience causes panic.</span><span> 

Communication

More than stage fright. When speaking in front of an audience causes panic. 

A strong appearance looks confident and makes an indisputable impression. With the boss, with colleagues, with employees. But what can you do if, despite practice and good preparation, your ass is on the line every time you make a small appearance?

Being able to speak freely, confidently and professionally in front of people or on committees is seen in our society as a sign of self-confidence and an important characteristic of a good leader. However, people who suffer from performance anxiety find this incredibly difficult and it sometimes even prevents them from pursuing a certain career, even though they would otherwise be very qualified.

Stage fright is generally understood as the tension, nervousness and stress before a public appearance, before an exam or a dangerous task. 
Wikipedia

Stage fright before and during performances is widespread. It is estimated that about 50% of people are affected. This figure is based on studies of professional musicians, which conclude that about half of the artists suffer at least temporarily from negative performance anxiety. The fear is described as negative when the performance is perceived as agonizing and the affected people can no longer give their full performance. For 15 to 20% of musicians, the fear is regularly so great that it is extremely difficult for them to go on stage.

Unfortunately, figures from the business are not known. I think this is mainly due to the fact that although it affects many, it is still considered a weakness in many places and is therefore concealed.

Stage fright vs. performance anxiety

It is important to distinguish between stage fright and performance anxiety. If you suffer from stage fright, there are many tips and tricks to make your performance easier. In particular, you can take the old adage "practice makes perfect" to heart. But also a good preparation and planning of the performance, specific relaxation exercises and breathing techniques, a lucky charm or the method of imagining the audience naked, help to reduce nervousness.

Unlike stage fright, performance anxiety cannot be treated with pure practice. In fact, quite the opposite. For many people, the fear intensifies with each additional performance. This goes so far that they call in sick or completely avoid any possibility of another confrontation. The list of symptoms is long. They include:

  • Already some time before the planned performance great nervousness, restless sleep, possibly diarrhea.
  • Reddening of the face, neck and ears while speaking
  • Racing heart
  • Hands wet with sweat
  • Shaky voice
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Blackout

 

It is obvious that one should rather not expose oneself to situations that trigger such things, if at all possible.

Why certain circumstances "trigger" us so much, what exactly happens first in the brain and then in the whole body, and what health consequences can arise if we expose ourselves too often to such situations, Nicole explains in detail in her article "What stress and anxiety does to your body".

And now for the good news...

The fear is usually due to a situation in the past that our brain has stored as a dangerous situation, although objectively there is no danger. This trigger, in this case the presentation, triggers a chain reaction that the person affected can no longer stop or control at will. If one manages to find and process this situation in the past, the brain no longer has a reason to sound the alarm.

Many therapists today work with this approach and the associated methods such as EMDR, Wingwave, Psych-K and hypnosis.

If you are affected by performance anxiety but don't know which therapist to contact, contact us at contact@ally.vision. We will be happy to help you find someone suitable for you. 

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What stress and anxiety do to your body and two simple exercises to reduce the effects
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