{"id":14547,"date":"2020-01-28T07:57:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T07:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roadietuner.com\/?post_type=blog&p=14547"},"modified":"2020-07-06T14:22:02","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T14:22:02","slug":"3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roadiemusic.com\/blog\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Killer Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright"},"content":{"rendered":"

A while back I wrote a blog post about songwriting habits<\/a>. Most of what I found during my research was a bunch of kumbaya tips about letting inspiration come to you.<\/p>\n

Guess what? It\u2019s the same with tips for overcoming stage fright.<\/p>\n

Music blogs and experts will write stuff like \u201cthink positively\u201c, \u201cget oxygen\u201d, \u201ceat a banana\u201d (yes, really!) and other nonsense. Some even recommend taking beta-blockers – terrible idea.<\/p>\n

Stage fright is simple.<\/p>\n

By going on stage, you\u2019re asking for everyone to stop talking and give you their undivided attention.<\/p>\n

They were most likely having a good time, so whatever you\u2019re about to do better be worth it.<\/p>\n

In other words: you\u2019re about to be judged.<\/p>\n

Tip #1: Look Past Them<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re a seasoned performer, you\u2019ll be comfortable with making eye-contact with your audience.<\/p>\n

It will even make for a better overall performance, as it creates more intimacy and the audience members feel like you\u2019re performing to them personally.<\/p>\n

The problem with eye-contact is that it\u2019s easy to lose focus unless you\u2019re running on autopilot like seasoned performers, who\u2019ve played their set a million times, do.<\/p>\n

Looking people in the eye makes you focus on their facial expression, which in turn makes you wonder what they\u2019re thinking of you, which makes you lose your cool.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s what you do: find a spot behind the audience and focus there.<\/p>\n

Usually, it\u2019ll be the sound guy. Don\u2019t worry about him. If he\u2019s worth his salt, he\u2019ll be busy looking down at the mixer.<\/p>\n

The worst thing you can do is look down, because nothing spells amateur hour like a performer staring down the floor.<\/p>\n

My man Jay-Z summarized it beautifully in his song Heart of the City<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not looking at you, I\u2019m looking past you\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Tip #2: Run On Autopilot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Performing involves a lot of different things, especially if you\u2019re a solo artist.<\/p>\n

You have to play an instrument, sing the lyrics, do both in time and in tune, look confident, make terrible jokes in between songs, promote yourself, and maybe even move around a bit.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot. The more of those things you can do on autopilot, the better.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s no quick fix for this. The only solution is to rehearse your set to death.<\/p>\n

Like I wrote in the songwriting habits post, it\u2019s better to do 30 minutes every day than 8 hours the day before your performance.<\/p>\n

Eventually, you will be able to rely on muscle-memory and not even think about making a mistake.<\/p>\n

Now you can focus on looking good and preparing to crowd surf.<\/p>\n

Tip #3: Accept That It Won\u2019t Be Perfect<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This tip is not to be confused with \u201caccept that your performance will be a train wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n

You want to do well, but it will most likely not sound like it does on the record.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you can use this to your advantage and do a more raw version of your song.<\/p>\n

But accept that you\u2019ll make some mistakes, and that it\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019ve achieved superstar status and the audience knows every word you sing and every note you play, chances are they won\u2019t notice if you slip up.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that you should acknowledge your mistake and make a silly joke about it. Save silly jokes for in between the songs.<\/p>\n

Every single thing you do on stage is intentional, even if it\u2019s not. The audience won\u2019t know the difference.<\/p>\n

Should your entire performance turn out to be a train wreck despite your best intentions, then it\u2019s not the end of the world either.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, history rarely remembers losers. You will at most be the butt of a quick joke, and then forgotten before the night is over.<\/p>\n

If you pull off a good performance, however, you\u2019ll be remembered as a winner. You might even make $0.000000000001 from Spotify<\/a> streams.<\/p>\n

The point is that you have everything to gain, and nothing to lose. So don\u2019t sweat it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":14549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[1295,1296,1302,1315,1333],"class_list":["post-14547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-tutorials","tag-genre_all","tag-content_tips","tag-level_advanced","tag-instrument_other","tag-tips_performing"],"yoast_head":"\n3 Killer Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright - Roadie Music Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roadiemusic.com\/blog\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Killer Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roadiemusic.com\/blog\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Roadie Music Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RoadieOfficial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-28T07:57:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-06T14:22:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roadiemusic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/stagefright2-e1524565017224.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"833\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"469\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@roadieofficial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@roadieofficial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"3 Killer Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-28T07:57:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-06T14:22:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":694,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/stagefright2-e1524565017224.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Genre_All\",\"Content_Tips\",\"Level_Advanced\",\"Instrument_Other\",\"Tips_Performing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Learning Hub\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roadiemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-killer-tips-for-overcoming-stage-fright\\\/\",\"name\":\"3 Killer Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright - 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