4 Tips to Battle Stage Fright

4 Tips to Battle Stage Fright with tags voice teacher, singing teacher, voice lessons, singing lessons, vocal coach, matt ramsey, alida annicchiarico, octave higher east

Master Your Voice Complete Singing Course: ramseyvoice.com/special-offer

Introduction 0:00

Everyone gets nervous 1:00

Preparation 2:00

Work with a trained vocal coach 2:10

Get your physical state ready to feel the nerves 2:30

Visualize how you want your performance to go 3:50

Start Small 7:00

Have fun! 11:00

I invited Alida Annicchiarico, my coteacher in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in wellness in singing to share her 4 tips for battling your singing insecurities.

If you don’t get nervous before a performance, you’re probably not human.

But that doesn’t mean you need to let anxiety control you. In fact, if you follow the suggestions in this section, you’ll find your stage fright becomes less intense and lasts a shorter time.

So let’s embrace the nerves. Expect them to show up and you’ll already be more prepared for an awesome performance. Here are my 5 tips for getting on stage and over stage fright.

5 Tips for Getting Over Stage Fright

1. Work with a Qualified Voice Teacher—The voice is the most personal of instruments, so it’s difficult to expose to people if you’re not ready. Working with a good singing teacher will not only help you sing better, but give you the confidence to know your voice is secure when you go for that high note on stage.

2. Practice Measured Breathing—Breathing is incredibly important for singing. But it’s also the first thing to go when we get nervous. Shallow, inefficient breaths build up the CO2 in our bloodstream and trigger a stress response, which makes things worse. Try using the 4 Count Breath to balance yourself. Simply inhale for a 4 count, suspend or hold the breath for a 4 count and exhale for a 4 count. You can continue this on a loop for 4 minutes.

3. Increase Your Heart Rate in Practice—Try increasing your heart rate while rehearsing a song. You can try running in place or doing a set of jumping jacks for 60 seconds. Then sing the song. Repeat this every rehearsal so your body is desensitized to the rapid heart rate you might feel when singing the song on stage.

4. Visualize a Positive Outcome—By visualizing a good performance, you’re priming your brain for success at something you’re practiced hard for. Always remember: nobody likes to see someone bomb onstage. The audience actually wants you to do well. Be their dream come true.

5. Start small—All this can sound quite overwhelming which is why it’s important you start small with low stakes performance opportunities. It could be in front of family, karaoke, or even a recital. The idea is to force yourself to get through a song despite your emotional response. I promise, after one performance you’ll be hooked.