How can you calm your nerves before singing?

I agree with the points of deep breathing and stretching and the yawns - that slows down the breath and heals our vagus nerve that is behind the nervousness. I also recommend visualizing a great performance. Instead of thinking about what could go wrong, see yourself singing beautifully and making people happy! Remember most people want to see you do well!

Breathing to relieve stress is not the exact same as when the first note starts, so don't over stretch breath whilst you're in the wings. Instead imagine you're on a tightrope, balancing, feel your centre of gravity drift down to the floor. It's the stomach area that turns you over, and it reaching up to your heart that will make everything race. Don't think about what you're going to do, you know that all ready as you have been practicing everything thoroughly well before you go on stage, and when you're on, it will be fine. Yes, I have used honey tea when I have had a tired voice in middle of a season or run of a show. But I now, I sip something with fruit to make the mouth water, as saliva is the best natural throat lubricant by far.

Practice, Practice Practice singing your ABC’s before beginning to sing your song. You can also relax by drinking some hot tea with honey. You can take 2 two teaspoons of honey before singing. That’s is great for your vocal range and vocal cords.

I agree with this perspective and I also recommend yawning to open the throat and relax the jaw muscles. Humming scales and other simple warm ups, doing siren exercises and lip and tongue trills also helps with relaxation tremendously.

Nothing you drink touches your vocal chords by the way. Just saying that after post I saw above. Your vocal folds are in your wind pipe that leads to your lungs. What you drink goes down your food pipe that leads to your stomach and it takes at least an hour to hydrate vocal folds intrinsically. Welcome the nerves/adrenaline, as it can help you toward peak performance. If in doubt, breath out!

You can also boost your confidence by singing in the mirror and watching your performance. So you can actually see what you can do before a crowd of people.

Visualisation is a good technique, but even top professionals can suffer bad nerves before they go on. You should know your abilities by this stage, and be aware your best performances come from when you go for it and give it your all. if you think too much about achieving your best, it can come back and bite you. It's a case of knowing if once you get off to a good start, you can do your best all will be OK, no magic just be you and know it's been enough in the past.

This is true as I believe that it’s important to believe in yourself as worthy of your art so long as you have put in the work.

I think Lisa makes a good point here! Like they say in acting, your actions need to be magnified. Whilst you’re practicing your performance, you might think you’re expanding your hands in a dramatic way as you sing that high note, but in reality it’s not as noticeable as you visualised. Practicing in front of a mirror allows you to realise how much you need to exaggerate your actions. I think it’s also something that needs to be applied to your preparation weeks in advance.

Visualising your success is incredibly important. I also imagine myself performing the repertoire - if I can imagine it, I know it means I can do it. If you don't support yourself, an audience becomes much harder to please. Support yourself, and others will follow.

Recording yourself is a great way to learn about your pitch and tone vibrato. Listen carefully to your sound and identify areas that need improvement.

Also, focus on the words of the song you are singing to your audience. Give your attention totally to what you are singing. Never say never you can do this!

This is something I focused on durning my undergrad. You can put the technical work in through your routine but this won’t come through successfully unless you relax and connect with the story that’s contained in your song. For me it comes down to the question of “Why are you singing what your singing and what emotion should it portray?”. This should then tell you what technique should be applied and how you should deliver your performance.

I find too many musicians focus on the notes and individual words. Once you begin to focus on the message, it adds a new depth to your performance. The music has been written with the words in mind; once you become focussed on both, it will elevate your performance - and you will enjoy the experience far more!

It might be quite helpful to focus on them, the wonderful people who came to the concert to listen to you, instead of focusing on your fears. They already entrusted you their evening, they like you. People need people, emotions, true connection. It is a great gift to stand on stage and let this magical connection happen.

Be very involved in your singing and let it overcome your nerves. Take it to the next level and make it happen for you. Give it all you have.

I think this is the most important element. You’re in your position for a reason. Not everyone will have the opportunity to sing and entertain. At the end of the day you’re there because you’re good enough. So take the opportunity and have fun with it. It’s good that you’re nervous as it shows you care but as soon as you do have fun and envelop yourself in the moment, the nerves will fade, you can relax, and fill the opportunity with your talent and all the hard work you put in previously.

Welcome and utilize the nervousness. There is a certain amount of excitement that can help achieve an energetic magical performance.

It’s also important to focus on your strong points rather than the weaker areas and worrying about what could go wrong. Always give room to spontaneity in a performance for example what do you do if you forget a few words? It’s an opportunity to be creative and improvise accordingly in line with the main story you are trying to tell.

When there is tension in the jaw and throat there is a tendency to either worry about it or try to ignore it. Unfortunately, this sends a message to the subconscious mind that the sensations of tension are dangerous and need to be changed in some way. This tends to increase the feelings of tension. So, instead of worrying or ignoring, try something different. Try letting go of the sensations and the thoughts which go with them and just watching the sensations and seeing what happens. It actually doesn't matter what happens, so long as you watch the sensations with gentle curiosity. Doing this fairly regularly tends to have the effect of making the sensations seem safe to the subconscious mind, helping to calm the whole system.