Performing with stage fright, minus the booze and drugs

The healthy way to confront stage fright as a performing musician.

Beta blockers. A shot of booze. A couple beers.

Sure, those can all have some effect when battling stage fright.

But they all have their downsides. Those downsides are well-documented, so we don’t need to get into them here.

Instead, let’s check out…

Ellis Paul’s method for moving through discomfort and anxiety on stage.

To some degree all performers suffer “stage fright” — nerves, butterflies, the sweats, a dry throat, a shaky voice.

Those are the milder effects of our fight or flight response. At its worst though, stage fright can prevent you from stepping on stage at all.

Singer-songwriter Ellis Paul has a method to confront that natural (and sometimes unconscious) fear and lessen its effects.

He’s outlined that approach for his students on the Song Factory Channel at TrueFire.com. Ellis also uploaded the video to YouTube so I could share it with you here:

Preparedness. Visualization. No naked audience members!

What works for you? Let me know in the comments below.

Also, if you’d like to check out more advice from this well-respected songwriter, Ellis Paul has many more instructional videos on his Song Factory Channel, an interactive site for songwriters that features writing prompts and exercises, classes on lyric writing, metaphor, melody, interviews with special guests, and lessons from guest instructors.