3 Effective Strategies to Deal with Stage Fright

‘It’s the biggest day of your life and probably the scariest one too. There are hundreds of people in the audience who have gathered just to hear your speech. You finally step on the stage and hear a huge round of applause. Your speech starts; people are clapping and responding well. Suddenly, you fumble and forget your next few words and everything turns black, you can’t see or hear anything’. That’s the worst nightmare anyone with stage fright could ever see. This nightmare never lets anyone to even make an effort to step on stage and perform.

You will be surprised to know that the third richest person in the world, Warren Buffet was once even scared to take his name in front of everyone. But he had this urge to overcome his stage fright. He joined a public speaking course and successfully completed it. Today, we all know who he is and that’s the power of overcoming fear!

Always remember that nobody can die while speaking on stage. But yes, there are people who would prefer to die, than to speak on stage. Try out a few strategies if you have the desire to speak on stage or in front of a large group of people.

1. Visualize
These strategies can be used anytime. It involves visualizing yourself as a good public speaker, trying to imagine the audience laughing and applauding and visualizing the fact that you are helping various people through your speech.

2. Practice
In order to be well prepared, you need to organize your speaking notes and run a thorough practice. You should be able to memorize the opening statements in such a way that even if someone wakes you up from a deep sleep and asks about it, you should be able to recite it. Keep practising in front of the mirror till you see yourself doing perfectly fine!

3. Stay Calm
Be at the venue preferably an hour early. Notice the things happening at the event and try and include elements from the live event in your speech. Remember to stay calm, revise your notes, take a walk and have sufficient water. Double check your mike, projector, etc. and then you are good to go.

Following these few tips can really make a lot of difference in your performance. Something similar is taught at Eduscan Group summer camps.

The whole objective of the camp is to make the kid confident and independent. The unique part of the camp is its final day function performance where all the camp kids put up a show for their parents. Children get to perform activities like public speaking, karate, yoga, dance, aerobics and more. In fact, during the camp they even work on the memory and concentration of children. On the final day they demonstrate the concentration power of kids by making them read information on a business card blindfolded. They can easily recognize the color of a ball they are handed over, blindfolded! This leaves the audience in awe! The function displays a beautiful transformation in kids and their behavior. Children who used to be scared to talk to strangers come out of the camp with a lot of new friends! It is an overwhelming journey for the parents as well, since they see the transformation in them.

About Eduscan Group
Eduscan is headed by Dr. Akla Kalra, a renowned educational psychologist, who has designed different trainings and courses to support determined and special need children in the schools of the UAE for the past 25 years. The specialized team of teachers and staff are involved in taking care of the children and supporting them explore their hidden talents and potentials which in turn develops leaders among them. All our courses and trainings are approved by Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and Community Development Authority (CDA). We at Eduscan group strongly believe in the fact that leaders are not born but they are made.