How do you control stage fright and improve your delivery?

I heard a great story once where a young performer as a teenager who spent years perfecting her performance art was about to go on stage and she turned to her father, and said “I’m nervous”! He replied “Don’t be so selfish, it’s not about you! You are here to serve your audience and give them the best you can today, go and be of service to your audience. You have studied and practiced you are prepared so give them what they are waiting for!”

Preparation is one way to combat stage fright/nerves. If you know you've put in the homework you know all I have to do is repeat what I've already done in my head 100 times. Also, if a joke has worked in the past and it doesn't work tonight it's probably their fault not mine. These two thoughts are nice to re-visit before walking on stage.

First of all everybody gets stage fright the first time they climb those steps. I actually couldn't make it into the club never mind the stage. Eventually after a few failures you get an attitude and won't care about the audience. Once you start talking the comedy drug takes over. I always say make believe you are in your living room talking to friends and for gods sake have FUN!!

I’m actually doing the Vancouver Fringe right now. I have been at Stand up Comedy for nearly 40 years. There are actually two feelings, “fear or fright” and excitement. Quite obviously fright might be really psychological and the excitement is more primeval. If you’re pacing you want to get out there and your movements are contained you are probably (and visibly afraid). If you can seen then you have to remember that everything that they see will be folded into the show. So stay backstage. Often times changes will occur or you will think that if I change this or that last minute then it will be way better. Just trust your preparation and “allow” it to come to the fore.

To shake nerves, it helps to have a higher purpose. What's the transformation you want to make in your audience? How does that fit into your larger mission? Psychologists have shown that moving towards an ambitious goal, that serves many people beyond yourself, is a powerful source of happiness. Literally, it release feel-good chemicals in your brain. And it's that kind of larger mission that lends you vitality to transform your nerves into excitement.

Basically I would say don't care what your audience thinks Forget all these crazy exercises Just go up grab the mike Smile move around create and HAVE FUN

always make friends with the tech support crew as they can help make you look good. get their phone number in case of a tech emergency. a pre-check is vital.

The moment you feel those butterflies in your stomach, you'll be tempted to think, 'I'm nervous.' However, the truth is that, neurochemically speaking, nervousness and excitement are the same thing. The only difference is one of perception. So, if you say to yourself, 'I'm excited. This is where I need to be. I'm excited for this opportunity', then all that adrenaline in your body will be pushing you forward, instead of holding you back.

Breathe ~ Quite simple and effective...try it next time, enough to get the minimum required number of characters to reply to this ~

I didn't touch a microphone until after nearly a decade of DJ performances, due to my over-preoccupation with my accent, and physical appearance, which led to an all-encompassing stage fright. Turned out that my self-perception could be altered simply by acting impulsively, grabbing the microphone, and speaking into it. Since then, it's been all about laying down the groundwork and making all arrangements in advance.

to be fair, an over-rehearsed speech is unnatural and can be viewed as fake. Aim to build a genuine natural rapport with the audience.

Can you give your speech at 3x speed? Can you deliver it while you go for a run? Can you say it aloud while distracted and wrangling infants? If you practice under challenging conditions, then you know, for sure, the learning has sunk in deeply and entered your deep subconscious mind. That means, when it's time to perform, your prefrontal cortex (PFC) can go quiet, allowing you to enter flow state. The PFC is brilliant: It's your executive centre, where thinking happens – but it's also the source of that self-conscious 'Woody Allen voice' that fills you with self-doubt. If you learn your speech deeply, the Woody Allen voice disappears. You're able to respond intuitively to the crowd, with full focus, to give your best performance.

Preparation is always key in everything you do in life, no more so than when addressing something you're passionate about. You want to be seen as the "Expert" so in order to do that, you need to live your passion on all levels, the most effective method is to go through what it takes to become an expert in the area that your passionate about, learn all the "pro's & con's" about it, tips and tricks, and then mentor others. As you gain your experience in this you're cementing in the mental knowledge to make it 2nd nature for you, as you go through the steps to be successful you are physically preparing yourself so you can teach others what it takes. Plus you can create a "Quick Help" check list to achieve success for you and others easier.

It is best to make a fool of yourself at home. Walk around and talk to yourself. If you'd like to see what others will see, speak in front of a mirror.

I find movement is a great way to not only keep your self from feeling frozen, but also forces the audience to move their heads and keeps them being an active part of the presentation. If you're in a classroom or stage, move around as you present, sometimes from the side or back of the room, it keeps heads swivelling and stops the 'idle mode' for listeners, at least a little. For an amazing example, watch comedian Michael McIntyre. He must clock up 10,000 steps a show!

I like to practise giving my speech to a camera. When I watch the recording back, I'm surprised to see how I hunch my shoulders, how I need to slow down or lower my voice. I can see where my hand gestures are awkward and where they work well. Only by viewing ourselves from the outside, in this way, can we learn how voice and body impact our message. Keep trying and improve one thing at a time. You'll be amazed how your speech recordings get better and better.

Use your tone of voice, pitch, and pacing to convey emotion, and enthusiasm, or to project authority. Gestures, facial expressions, and posture can reinforce your words and help convey your confidence and sincerity.

When your stressed out, unexpected glitches can send you into a tailspin. However, if you're calm and present to begin with, it feels natural to respond flexibly with a quip or an improvisation. There's a breathing exercise I use, which instantly settles my mind. If I practise this before a big event, it makes it much easier to stay centred and keep my sense of humour. It's simple. Breath in for 4 seconds (through your nose). Breath out for 6 seconds (through your mouth). The outbreath is through pursed lips as though you're blowing out candles. This breathing exercise has been documented to improve heart-rate variability (a measure of wellbeing and health). It instantly makes me feel calm, playful and ready for anything.

Communicating is 100% responsive, the better you communicate the better you connect, deliver and share your message. It's said that communication is broken into 2 areas, Verbal and Non Verbal, and ONLY 7% of how we communicate is verbal, so that means a whopping 93% is non verbal, and that's broken into 2 segments itself. Delivery, and reception. How you non verbally communicate tells the story so much more effectively that verbally.

My coach 20 years ago had me set my songs on playlists I’m a specific way like 2 fast songs for 1 slow. She taught me how to speak between songs so I didn’t he’s dead awkward air space: then she made me practice the show start to finish 7 days a week until my first performance I was so terrified of. She said if you are prepared beyond a shadow of a doubt and your mind goes blank then your cruise control will take over if you learn it enough. She’s been right for 20 years and 1000s of shows. Used that technique this week

It's important to note that, when neuroscientists examine brain scans, they've found anxiety and me-thinking have identical signatures. This means that thinking about yourself is identical with the experience of anxiety. Therefore, to overcome nerves, focus not on yourself, but on your audience. When I place 100% of attention on looking into people's eyes and serving them the transformation they need, I forget all about my own shortcomings. I myself become irrelevant. Instead, I'm filled with gratitude for the chance to be here, in the company of interesting people, doing something worthwhile together.