I had a question from a client a while back, asking me what the best way was to deal with performance anxiety. I answered their query as best I could directly but wanted to flesh out my answer more here, especially as it’s something we all face, even just singing at home when we realise someone else might be hearing us!
What is performance anxiety?
In short, it’s a heightened sense of worry or fear associated with execution of a particular skill. This might involve going on-stage, are the centre of attention, but at the very least is built on the fear of doing something and then feeling like you are being judged by others. This could be performance of a sport, a speech, exam, etc as much as being something to do with music.
It’s anything where all your work has built up to a specific execution of your skill, and you will be in some way judged or have an opinion formed of you by others based on said performance.
Where does it come from?
In my opinion, there’s two main components: the passive component, and the active component.
There is firstly a passive component, which is a component associated with simply turning up and being in front of other people. This is biological/physiological and can’t be eliminated easily.
Even just going to a large party or perhaps an important business meeting can trigger this kind of response for many people. Even when you know you don’t have to perform a specific task, simply appearing in front of people implicitly causes others to form an opinion of you. This inherently provokes a biological response.
This has some risk, as we have limited control over what others think of us. They might form a positive opinion, they might not, and this can be at least mildly worrying or stressful for 99% of people. Rest assured, such responses are totally normal.
The active component is somewhat different.
When we perform in some way, we are choosing to present our chosen skill to the standard we believe we have crafted it to be at. We know we’ll try to get better in the future, but as of right now, this is where we think we are at. This is more than just appearing in front of people – this is actively inviting an explicit assessment of your ability.
The most critical aspect of this active component that worries people is “what if I make a mistake? what if I get something wrong?”
“What if I screw that note up?”
“What if I get hoarse half way through?”
“What if I just sound awful?”
Here’s the tough love part of today’s article: by the time we get up to perform, it is already too late to worry about those things.
If there is any serious chance of any of these things happening during a performance, then you are not ready to deliver that performance.
“I just need more confidence”
I hear this from people a lot. But consider this…
Forget about the word “confidence” for a moment. Let’s consider what we are really interested in, which is a skilful and aesthetically pleasing performance. This has far more to do with the work that went into developing your skill and your sound BEFORE the performance, than it does with the moment of the performance. Of course, great showmanship is very helpful to create a truly spectacular performance, but this should be the icing on the cake, and is no substitute for the cake itself.
When it comes to a skill-based endeavour (and creating an aesthetically pleasing voice is very much in this realm), what it comes down to is an appropriate amount of competence, plus an accurate appreciation of what your competence level actually is. When you do a song that is well within your competence level, the outcome is more or less certain. And when the outcome is more or less certain, that is what breeds competence.
This certainty of one’s ability and the outcome we seek is what confidence really is. We can’t just will ourselves into excellence if we have not built the ability first. It isn’t the emotional gee-ing up of self-belief that gets you there.
How do we solve the problem of performance anxiety?
If you are fully competent in your ability such that you could deliver a performance 99% perfectly 99% of the time, morning or night, then the whole “what if I screw up? what if I get something wrong?” question isn’t much of an issue anymore. The issue of performance anxiety is minimised (though rarely eliminated!) by way of technical development.
We don’t do it by trying to pump ourselves up emotionally through bravado, or hoping for a hail mary come the night of the performance.
Without consistent ability and certainty thereof, you are always playing the “hope I make it this time!” with a following tail-wind. This is the inconsistency in people’s voices that destroys the confidence in their own ability, and massively damages their performances. Notice that the source of this issue is technical, and the psychological component is a symptom thereof.
DISCLAIMER: Let me clarify something
No matter how competent one gets, we all make mistakes. Even I fluff notes or lines from time to time. However, when you are sufficiently competent and well-practiced that you get something 99% right 99 times out of 100, you find you don’t take it at all personally when you DO miss a note, even if it’s on stage. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can do that thing, and that a minor error isn’t an indictment of your ability; it’s just one of those things.
As such, once the active component has been eroded, the passive component also tends to diminish. From there it’s a matter of learning how to use that nervous energy to channel it into your on-stage presence to generate a compelling performance.
It’s a truly freeing experience to suddenly find that you’re never worried about whether your voice will do what you need it to do, that you won’t lose it half way through a song or gig, and you’re certain your tonal quality will keep up the whole way through a set. This is real unshakeable confidence, as it’s built on actual reality. If you’d like to find this out for yourself, get yourself booked in and we can show you how to trust your voice again.
Learn More: Related Articles
If you want to learn more about performing and improving your own performances you may enjoy these related articles:
Pacing yourself: Micro- and macro- rests in songs and sets
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 1
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 2
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 3
Ease, Strain, Time to think: Improve your performances easily
5 Simple Tips to Improve Your Performances