How to Help Your Child Overcome Stage Fright
GET STARTEDGoing up on stage and singing or dancing can be fun, but it can also be terrifying for many. This is called stage fright and it comes hand in hand whenever there’s a performance. If it’s your first time on stage, you’re most likely to be afraid of the crowd silently staring at you. If you’re not sure if your child can take on the stage the first time around, keep on reading and we’ll help you figure out great ways to help your child overcome that first public performance with their head held high.
What is Stage Fright?
The most important question we need to answer before providing solutions is to ask ourselves:
“What is Stage Fright?”
Stage fright or performance anxiety is a feeling of nervousness or unease during a performance. This can cause several problems for the performer such as forgetting their lines or playing the wrong note. This mostly stems from a person’s fear of the unknown with the majority of people that experience stage fright not being used to a performance in front of a large crowd.
What You Can Do
As a parent, it can be difficult to help your child get through their stage fright. Stage fright for adults is different from a child’s and it can be difficult for a child to overcome it. Some can even have different reactions like refusing to go on stage or even vomiting before the performance. But with the right techniques, any anxious child can become a superstar in the spotlight.
Tell Them Stage Fright is Normal
The most important thing to teach any young performer is that stage fright is a normal part of any early performance. Even adults can feel it before their performances. Let them know that they’re going to get used to the crowd eventually.
Practice Practice and Practice Some More
As was said earlier, stage fright stems mainly from the fear of the unknown. The fear of making mistakes and not knowing how the audience will react can easily affect their performance. The best way to counter this is to make sure your child is comfortable with his or her performance. The best way to do this is to make sure that they know their performance by heart.
Help Change Their Mindset
Your mindset is one of the most important things to keep in mind whenever you need to go up on stage. If you think the crowd is going to laugh at you, then in your mind you’ll be laughed at whenever you make a mistake. Think positive and focus on what would happen when you succeed instead of focusing on stage fright and what would happen if you fail. Tell them the crowd is there to watch you succeed and not to fail. A positive mindset is a great confidence booster that every performer should have.
Encourage Them
Telling them that they’re going to do fine might seem like an ice cube in a desert of anxiety. But this ice cube could be the ocean wave that your child can ride on to success. Children look up to their parents and the best thing you can give them is your support. So get out there and tell them they’re the best you’ve heard and that they’ll be stars in their own right someday.