How To Handle Performance Anxiety
- Practicing Performance
- Repetition
- Execution
To understand why we get nervous while singing we have to understand where it started.
Practice is essential to improving singing capability, repetition is the act of acquiring knowledge through repeating actions, and execution will be the action of applying repetition.
These 3 simple things can help you master any song quickly and rid yourself of performance anxiety.
Practicing Performance
The first question you should ask yourself is if you have practiced enough.
You will know if you can recite your whole song without getting tripped up.
Your practice should consist of you reading the lyrics and singing at the same time.
This will help you visually remember lyrics and melodies in accordance with the layout of the song.
The verses usually will have the same melody and different words, whereas the chorus will have consistent melodies and the same words.
This makes learning songs easier as you may only have 3 or 4 chunks to learn. Chunking information is the best way to learn, so make sure you have ample time to chunk your song.
If you are short on time, memorizing a whole song can be difficult, so repetition will be essential.
Repetition
If you have ever habitually sung something incorrectly, you may want to try practicing specific parts of the song.
This way you are not tiring out your voice before you actually start singing.
For example, if your struggle is in the chorus. Then simply practice the chorus.
This is to work on accuracy so you want to do it until you get it right.
Singing a whole song and then repeating can tire out your voice if you are only having trouble in one spot.
The first time you practice the song will be the hardest. Ask yourself if you can hear a difference after your tenth time singing it.
Execution
Execution is the hardest action to do because of how our brain works.
Performance anxiety is at its peak when it comes down to do the action itself.
If you have a habit of overthinking, this can be your real issue.
The brain will often gravitate towards negative thoughts if you don’t like how you sound.
Thinking positive thoughts or having a focal point are great ways to combat this.
Try singing in front of others, maybe 1 or 2 people, and build your ability to execute certain parts that give you trouble in front of a live audience.
Always look to improve your current situation instead of dwelling. This in time will help you get past how you feel performing publicly.
