Joe Kowan: “How I beat stage fright”
Stage fright. Performance anxiety. Or, as a friend called it, “inner freakage”. If you haven’t felt it, you’re probably calling it something more useful, like “energy”.
This TED Talker knows what we face, and tells the warm, hilarious story of how he looked his own fear in the eye and told it to back off.
Check out the video, then share with us: What works for you?
Do you know TED? Our once-in-a-Tuesday series features selected videos from TED.com, where thousands of “TED Talks” cover divergent topics in technology, education, art, design, music and more, with a profound impact on thought leaders and artists all over the world. Learn more by reading the introduction to our first post in the series.
Related:
Listen and buy more “modern american folk music” from Joe Kowan at Discohog.com
Dig into the topic with this TED Lesson from educator Mikael Cho: “The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it)” (Click the image at right to view the video.)
Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America’s #1 Fear, by Michael Edelstein, Ph.D –
Paperback (also available for Kindle)
Publisher’s description: Never before has the problem of stage fright been so eloquently examined; 40 interviews with some of the most highly-accomplished public figures shed light on this affliction, offering tips from their own experiences for overcoming it. Jason Alexander, Mose Allison, Maya Angelou, David Brenner, Peter Coyote, Olympia Dukakis, Richard Lewis, and many more sound off about their trials with stage fright, candidly discussing their fears and insecurities with life in the public eye and ultimately revealing the various paths they followed to overcoming them. Stage fright sufferers from all walks of life—whether a high school freshman nervous about an oral presentation or a professional baseball player with the eyes of the world on his bat—will find consolation by understanding the commonality of their problem, as well as helpful information to finally shed their inhibitions.
This new study, outlined by the Huffington Post, seems timely: “Performance Anxiety Study Suggests Getting Excited Helps More Than Trying To Calm Down“. This is actually a technique that has been used by acting coaches and other performance experts for some time. It really works — give it a shot!