Stage Fright - Teaching for the First Time
From the ICAL TEFL wiki
All performers, and teachers are performers of a sort, feel stage fright but the experienced ones channel it into performing energy. Fight your fears back, and the rewards will soon outweigh the anxiety. After perhaps three or four times you'll begin to relax enough to find the pleasure in teaching. Remember to relax, play, enjoy yourself - students aren't constantly judging you, and if you have fun so will they, so stop assuming you have to pass some kind of self-imposed, unreachable skill standard.
Below are some easy to implement strategies to help you reduce your stage fright.
Pick out those strategies that most appeal to you and try them out until you find the right combination for you.
Remember! Nervousness doesn't show one-tenth as much as it feels. Before each presentation make a short list of the strategies you think will make you feel better. Don't be afraid to experiment with different combinations. You never know which ones will work best until you try. Rewrite them on a separate sheet and keep the sheet with you at all times so you can refer to it quickly when the need arises.
Contents |
Anytime
- Concentrate on how good you are.
- Pretend you are just chatting with a group of friends.
- Close your eyes and imagine the class listening, laughing, and applauding.
- Remember happy moments from your past.
- Think about your love for and desire to help the class.
In advance of class
- Be extremely well prepared.
- Listen to music.
- Read a poem.
- Anticipate hard and easy questions.
- Organize.
- Absolutely memorize your opening statement so you can recite it on autopilot if you have to.
- Practice, practice, practice. Especially practice bits so you can spit out a few minutes of your class no matter how nervous you are.
- Get in shape. I don't know why it helps stage fright, but it does.
Just Before Class
Remember Stage fright usually goes away after you start. The tricky time is before you start.
- Be in the room early if possible to triple check everything.
- Notice and think about things around you.
- Yawn to relax your throat.
- Doodle.
- Draw sketches of a new car you would like to have.
- Look at your notes.
- Put pictures of your kids/grandkids, dog, etc., in your notes.
- Build a cushion of time in the day so you are not rushed but not too much time. You don't want to have extra time to worry.
- If your legs are trembling, lean on a table, sit down, or shift your legs.
- Take a quick walk.
- Take quick drinks of tepid water.
- Double check your A/V equipment.
- Don't drink alcohol or coffee or tea with caffeine.
- Concentrate on your ideas.
- Do isometrics that tighten and release muscles.
- Say something to someone to make sure your voice is ready to go.
- Go somewhere private and warm up your voice, muscles, etc.
- Use eye contact.
- Go to a mirror and check out how you look.
- Breathe deeply, evenly, and slowly for several minutes.
- Don't eat if you don't want to and never take tranquilizers or other such drugs.
When the Class Begins
- If legs are trembling, lean on lectern /desk or shift legs or move.
- Use eye contact. It will make you feel less isolated.
- Look at the friendliest faces in the class.
Last But Not Least
Breathe! It's easy to forget, when you're anxious, and that makes things worse. Gentle physical exercises beforehand are extremely effective, and also help free you to be more expressive: try Yoga, T'ai Chi, Feldenkrais or Pilates. Some people swear by taking herbal Valerian tablets, available at health stores, and others by a natural beta-blocker such as eating a banana or two, up to half an hour before performing. Having something in your stomach may make you feel better, or worse.
By courtesy of Charles Kowalski, M.A.T.
Sources: Tom Antion, “Stage Fright Strategies”; Joanne Mikola, “Enter Stage Fright – I Mean Right”; Tim Sheppard, “The Storytelling FAQ”.
