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Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

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Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#31
I've had a really bad case of it: trembling uncontrollably, becoming completely stuck in my mind, and failing miserably. This predicament has basically destroyed my career in music (and I'm a pretty good musician!), and made me avoid a lot of situations in which I might have been able to contribute from my knowledge and experience, in different domains.

As someone who still struggles with the same problem, here are some things that really help me:

First, be open about it. Talk about it to your family, friends, colleagues, boss. That way you'll at least get rid of the shame and the guilt that accompany this "handicap". When my teenage kids, who are very sensitive this kind of thing, bug me about my trembling, or my breaking voice (which may come in a variety of social situations), I explain to them that it's not something that I do on purpose, and that it's not something I control.

In fact, when I get this kind of anxiety which is manifested physiologically (which can look scary to the other people in the room), I try to explain to my audience what's happening to me. I have found that people's attitude will change from bewilderment and suspicion to empathy, which immediately lowers the tension in the room, helps me calm down somewhat and lets me get on with the subject matter with greater ease.

I have also found that concentrating on my breath helps tremendously, and in fact the physical effects come because my body muscles seem to contract in a sort of panic reaction, and the only way I can reverse that is to take long, slow breaths that relax my body.

So, when talking in public, I slow down, taking the time to breath at the end of each phrase. This is not easy to do at first, but combined with an attentive and empathetic crowd, it really changes everything! A practice that I have found to work really well, is to practice mindful breathing while doing some activity, like programming, cooking, gardening or whatever.

I found this to be surprisingly challenging at first, as you need to split your attention between the activity at hand and the controlled slow breathing. But every time I practiced it (especially in preparation for giving a talk), the difference was remarkable.

I hope this helps!

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#33
Fear comes from the unknown - that you will be exposed as fraud by the audience. So if you know your stuff, the topic of your talk, inside and out, you will be confident in what you say and therefore the way you present it.

Second thing is to do something like Till Lindemann, the lead singer from Rammstein, did. he too had massive stage freight so ho came up witch a character and his entire performance is exactly that - a performance. So you interact with the audience through this mask, this filer, of a made up persona and so it's not really you doing the talking. At least that is how your mind will rationalize it.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#34
post #4

You might be introvert, which means you feel compelled to prepare yourself before a meeting or presentation. Without this, you feel anxiety. Giving impromptu talks is easier with an extrovert personality. With some effort, you could switch. I am also introvert and so far have failed 100% of the white board style interviews, basically big tech interviews are heavily biased against interverts. I try to hint to this by…

>which means you feel compelled to prepare yourself before a meeting or presentation.

This has absolutely nothing to do with introversion

>Without this, you feel anxiety.

Introverts aren't necessarily anxious people

You're making the mistake a lot of people online do where you're conflating social anxiety with introversion. Both make you not want to be around people, but for very different reasons.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#35

> Any one who has overcome this fear Yes, but you're not going to like the answer: I stopped caring. Not because that is the best solution, but the only one that worked for me with my limited skill set. I focus on the topic and blatantly assume that my contribution outweighs my presentational shortcomings. People keep seeking my input despite that, so the sum must be a net positive or everybody is just crazy. I read…

A 'I totally don't care about you fools'-attitude was my solution, too. It worked great for me and I love it. I get on stage and have a deep 'love me or hate me, I don't care, that's my show' feeling.

After I told to myself that I have this attitude, I started to be able to play with the audience's attention instead of focusing on myself.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#36
Betablockers like propranolol will solve this for you in the form of a cheap pill that‘s not addictice and has no nameworthy side effects with occasional usage.

They are literally the magical stagefright pill and 72% of all orchestra musicians use(d) them.

https://www.thecrimson.com/column/a-night-at-the-symphony/ar...

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#37

> Any one who has overcome this fear Yes, but you're not going to like the answer: I stopped caring. Not because that is the best solution, but the only one that worked for me with my limited skill set. I focus on the topic and blatantly assume that my contribution outweighs my presentational shortcomings. People keep seeking my input despite that, so the sum must be a net positive or everybody is just crazy. I read…

Related to "not caring" is "realizing that others don't notice near as much as you do". It's like hearing your own heartbeat as you're trying to fall asleep. No one else can hear it; they also don't notice slight pauses nearly as much as you do. Take the time you need and plow through it.

> "realizing that others don't notice near as much as you do"

Not a necessary truth

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#38

> Any one who has overcome this fear Yes, but you're not going to like the answer: I stopped caring. Not because that is the best solution, but the only one that worked for me with my limited skill set. I focus on the topic and blatantly assume that my contribution outweighs my presentational shortcomings. People keep seeking my input despite that, so the sum must be a net positive or everybody is just crazy. I read…

A 'I totally don't care about you fools'-attitude was my solution, too. It worked great for me and I love it. I get on stage and have a deep 'love me or hate me, I don't care, that's my show' feeling. After I told to myself that I have this attitude, I started to be able to play with the audience's attention instead of focusing on myself.

It's a bit more nuanced for me, I just wanted to keep my comment short. I love most places I work at, I want to contribute as much value as I can and keep harm away from the company and my colleagues. Given my skills and limitations, it boils down to a simple dilemma: either I contribute and make people mad at me or I shut up and let them walk into their own demise.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome stage fear / social anxiety

#40
just questions in big forums involving senior leaders / peers or other team members, I generally fumble. My body language doesn't show confidence, try to mince words etc.

I step back because i feel i am being judged, or I make wrong statement etc.

What Ive learnt from my experience is that youre body isnt crazy: if it feels afraid, there might be a challenge (or rather, a danger). For me the only way to stop being afraid is to understand it to its core and understand how to beat it (to a reasonable degree).

In your specific case, you're facing a terrific challenge because they are certainly experienced leaders and very emotionally intelligent.

There are many things to know to beat it, its a complex one (which I dont fully understand either) but i know it starts there: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFq5D1Mm/

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