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How Many People Are Going To Be There? One Story on Overcoming Stage Fright

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When I entered college I entered a program that required the dreaded thesis reading in front of a large group of peers and faculty members.  Many college degree programs have a thesis reading or a series of regular speeches that are required for graduation.  These readings may or may not be graded, but unfortunately for us shy guys they are always required.

The thought of having to give a real live reading of work to peers and co-workers can be extremely traumatic for those with stage fright.  It seems like a cute problem that kids get stuck with, but kids do grow up into adults with anxiety and stage fright and I am one of them.  I say ‘am’ in the present tense because I still deal with stage fright and anxiety, but it is possible to get it under control enough to succeed in any public speaking endeavor. 

Give Yourself Plenty of Time
I tell you, the biggest help for me in getting ready to stand up in front of all those people was learning that I had to do it years in advance.  I knew when I first applied to get into the program that this thesis reading was a requirement.  People with stage fright avoid public speaking and can even choose not to enter a specific career field because the thought scares them so much.  However, learning about a speaking engagement far enough in advance will give plenty of time to prepare and to get used to the idea.

While in college I had three years to just get used to the idea of giving a reading.  Plus I got to watch those graduating before me for the same amount of time, giving their own readings.  It was a fantastic learning experience, because as an audience member I learned what was funny, what kept the audience interested, what annoyed them and I also saw first hand the kind of nervous behaviors audiences could pick up on. 

Even though the thought of reading in public terrified me all those years ago, I’m glad that I wanted to enter my career field badly enough to risk a terrible reading.  Yet, it wasn’t a terrible reading at all.

Talk to Others about the Stage Fright
One other practice that was extremely helpful involved taking the time to talk to my teachers and other students who had given readings about the process.  Teachers get up in front of their classes every single day.  It is certain that they get nervous too, but most of the time students never notice.  This is because those teachers have taken public speaking/acting courses, performed their own required public readings and had years of practice getting to know new classes every semester.  The nervousness is always there at first, but eventually with practice and sometimes medication, a comfort level can be reached.

I remember one teacher, who claimed to be the most anxious, nervous guy out there when it came to public speaking, but he still did it and I’m certain he enjoyed it.  I spoke with him about preparing for the thesis reading and learned that he sometimes spent hours in his attic reciting everything from speeches to book readings to class materials for his many public speaking roles.

He gave me some very good pointers:

• Go over the material until you can recite it no matter how nervous you get. You need to memorize that speech, part, essay, whatever, until you’re mumbling it in your sleep.
• Find a way to channel your nervous energy.  Preferably you’ll be able to channel it into your speaking voice and the effort of giving a good reading.  Just don’t let it wreak havoc with your body and mind because that’s where stage fright takes over.
• Start Preparing now.  Even if you do this in little baby steps, every little bit of effort helps prepare you for that public event.  Start attending readings and observe the speaker.  Start reading your own material aloud to yourself and your family.  Even give a few smaller readings to smaller groups in public.

I was already preparing for my thesis reading when I spoke to that teacher a year and a half before having to give it.  The next steps were just taking the other two suggestions to heart.

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice!
The year before the big reading I managed to win an award for best thesis and it got published in the college’s literary journal.  As part of this success, I was gently ‘encouraged’ to read a part of my thesis in process at the release party for the journal.  Not a required experience by far, but my peers knew about the stage fright and tried to help me the best way they knew how, peer pressure.

‘Go read.’  ‘You’ll have a great time.’  ‘You already know everyone.’ These were words of little comfort, but I decided that this event would be a great way for me to gauge just where my stage fright problems stood, and great practice for what I already knew about getting it under control.  An amazing thing happened, after making the decision to go, I started getting excited about the reading.  I spent an hour or two reading parts of my thesis aloud for practice and used a few relaxation techniques for the nervousness.  I also spent a good deal of time fretting about what to wear, so those nervous sweat stains wouldn’t be noticeable. 

There were about forty people at the release party, so it was still a good sized group, yet smaller than the hundred I was expecting for the thesis reading.  When I got up to the podium I didn’t feel all that nervous, but as soon as I started talking the shaking started.  Suddenly, my legs, thighs and butt turned into a quivering mass of Jello.  It’s a bad analogy, but, my butt could have flopped right off if it weren’t attached better.  I learned very quickly what being so nervous your knees are shaking really meant.

Luckily, I was able to keep the upper half of my body relatively still, and passed a few moments of nervousness off as taking my time to prepare.  Plus there was a microphone so a soft voice didn’t turn out to be nearly as big a problem as it could have been. 

I told myself to just keep reading.  Don’t look up and keep reading.  If my body wants to drop me to the floor at the podium, then so be it. 

Another amazing thing happened about five minutes into reading, the symptoms went away.  All that adrenaline that my body flooded into my system started dissipating and I actually reached a point of extreme calm.  I still wasn’t looking up at the audience, but I read clearly and strongly, and that was a wonderful experience. 

Preparedness is a Thing of Beauty
Since the thesis readings were held in the same place every year I knew exactly where I’d be on reading night.  Yet, six or seven months from that night I was still very nervous about the concept of standing up.  This was despite talking with teachers and peer discussion and those reassurances that I’d “be amongst friends.” 

I decided if I couldn’t work myself up to more readings in public, I’d best start reading in a semi-public way.  My venue of choice became the empty chapel where the program held the thesis readings.  In the daytime this chapel is open for anyone who wants to go in.  Not a lot of people knew this and those few that did apparently didn’t find the building all that interesting.  Occasionally I’d be displaced by someone wanting to practice on the piano and organ that were a part of the building, but for the most part I had it to myself.

The readings are given at the pulpit of the chapel, which as you can imagine is kind of intimidating.  Not only does a person have to read to a large group of people, but that person has to go up into the alcove of the minister’s pulpit.  At first I was hesitant to actually go up on stage to practice reading even to an empty house.  What if someone walked in on me?  What if campus security thought I was trying to vandalize the place?  In the end I swallowed my fears and walked up on stage. 

Those initial visits mainly involved me getting used to standing at the pulpit in the chapel.  I read aloud from random pieces of work I had with me and tried to imagine the chapel filled with people.  Even by myself I found I was a bit nervous. 

After a few visits I began focusing on how the reading sounded and developing a cadence and proper speed for reading.  Soon, I started looking forward to my clandestine visits to the chapel as it was a little secret all my own.  This is where I really polished my reading skills and just got used to reading aloud.  By the night of my reading I was nervous, but well prepared and guess what? 

It didn’t go too badly either.  The shakes did come back like they had when I first read at that release party, but they weren’t as bad and left more quickly than before.  Plus I knew the material so well that it was a cinch to keep on reading.  Many people complimented me on giving such a good reading afterwards.  Anyone, with a little practice and preparation, can make it through their stage fright jitters.

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