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Positive self-talking before playing on stage

Posted in Play: February 2013

I will dedicate some paragraphs to the internal dialogue. I personally believe that our self-talk plays an important role when stage fright and performance anxiety is involved.

The fear of failure brings thoughts like this when we are in front of a public or jury: “ If I haven’t studied enough?” or “ If I make a mistake, if I have a memory slip or a bad day?” Sounds familiar? These thoughts usually increase the physical symptoms such as: clammy, cold hands, stomach butterflies, sweat, dizziness, fast heartbeat etc. What next? We need to face discouragement, worry, fear, uncertainty, and ultimately a weak performance.

On the other hand, positive self-talk gives us more enthusiasm, motivation and energy. Here are some examples: “I am ready. I have something to offer to the public. I expect to play at the highest level. I will have a nice sound, etc.” This statement helps us to focus on what we want to achieve, being in the same time very useful in controlling and balancing the negative and irrational thoughts.

The internal dialogue is just one from many factors which influence our performance results.

How do you control the negative thoughts before playing on stage?
Share from your own experience!