Get your attention focused outward

by B.B.
(California USA)

I actually enjoy performing and speaking in front of people - but I haven't been immune to stage fright!

I realized that most of the time, my nervousness stemmed from my attention getting introverted on my self, worrying about what others were thinking instead of focusing my attention outward to deliver my communication, whether is be public speaking or a performance of some kind.

With that realization, I was able to adjust my viewpoint to one of looking outward instead of inward.

I like to pick one person (preferably someone I know) and proceed as though having a conversation or playing my guts out for that one person. It's so much easier to deliver a communication to a specific person!

Even if I don't really know anyone personally, I try to just observe the audience quietly for a few minutes before I speak or perform so I am more "there" in the present :)