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- Getting Over Stage Fright: Introduction
Getting Over Stage Fright: Introduction
- By Misc Author
- Published 01/5/2011
- Stage Fright
By Janet Esposito, MSW
From Introduction to her book Getting Over Stage Fright
It seems like quite a stretch to think that our fear of public speaking and performing can actually be a blessing in our lives.
That sounds like a big dose of positive thinking—an attempt to be the eternal optimist trying to find the silver lining in a difficult and often painful experience of personal suffering.
I am the last person to deny how challenging and agonizing this fear can be for those who suffer from it, having been there myself and having heard the stories of hundreds of fellow sufferers over the years.
At the same time, there is a hidden side to this fear, which you can only discover when you stop running from it and finally face the “monster in the closet.”
I have personally experienced, and have seen with many coaching clients and workshop participants, how approaching this fear in an adaptive way can lead to unexpected and far-reaching gifts.
For me and many others, this fear has served as a “wake-up call”—an invitation to pay closer attention and look more deeply at ourselves and our lives and to learn some profound lessons in the process.
The way to discover what our fear has to teach us is to stop seeing it as the enemy and instead begin to be curious about what valuable lessons it offers.
It takes quite a shift in perspective not to see this fear, and the associated symptoms that accompany it, as our enemy.
We have spent years fighting it, running from it, trying to control it and feeling it has controlled us, and trying to conquer it and feeling it has won out over us.
We have seen our fear as the thing that has stood in our way, robbing us of the level of career success, happiness, self-confidence, and peace of mind we so desire and preventing us from reaching our personal potential as a human being.
We have cursed our fear for making us feel so weak and helpless, hidden it from others as our shameful secret, and spent many sleepless nights hoping, wishing, and praying it would go away.
So how can we possibly see our fear as anything but our enemy?
I have heard it said that the most difficult people and circumstances are our greatest teachers. When life offers us people and circumstances that are easy and pleasant, we certainly relish them and wish life could always be this way.
We come to expect that life should always run smoothly and be the way we want it to be, and we may get quite disgruntled when life presents us with frustrations and obstacles instead.
Many of us who suffer from this fear have been high achievers, able to move past most obstacles in our path through a combination of determination and hard work.
In fact, as we successfully negotiated the personal and professional challenges along the way, our sense of personal power and being in control of ourselves and our lives has been strongly reinforced.
Our experience of the depth and breadth of this fear has challenged how we see ourselves at the very core and has exposed us to a deep vulnerability we are not used to feeling.
We have found it hard to accept ourselves as having this level of fear and vulnerability and, perhaps even more difficult to bear, possibly being seen by others as a person who feels so vulnerable and afraid.
We have come to see our fear as a personal weakness and believe we will be judged by others as weak and lacking if our fear and vulnerability become exposed.
Yet our fear has also forced us to pay attention to our inner life in a way that other things have not.
When our lives are working smoothly and predictably, it is easy to sail along and not question anything.
This fear has stopped us in our tracks and, in doing so, has given us the opportunity to pause and take stock of ourselves and our lives.
It is an invitation to become more conscious of patterns in our personality and approach to life that might not be serving us well. It is an opportunity to create a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and our worldview.
It is up to us how far we take this self-discovery, but however far that is, it is always an invitation to grow and evolve as a human being.
> Continued in article Getting Over Stage Fright: Introduction [on her site]
Janet Esposito, MSW, is the president of In The SpotLight, LLC, a company devoted to helping people overcome fear of public speaking and performing.
You can get her book Getting Over Stage Fright at her site above - or Amazon.
~~~~
[Image from book: Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America's #1 Fear, by Mick Berry, MFA and Michael R. Edelstein, Phd.]
Related articles:
Public Speaking and Panic Attacks
Breathing Out Stage Fright
Actors and Anxiety – Get Help For Your Stage Fright
Undo Public Speaking Fear: The Lefkoe Method
Sites for anxiety relief programs:
Undo Public Speaking Fear
Anxiety Relief Solutions
...
From Introduction to her book Getting Over Stage Fright
It seems like quite a stretch to think that our fear of public speaking and performing can actually be a blessing in our lives.
That sounds like a big dose of positive thinking—an attempt to be the eternal optimist trying to find the silver lining in a difficult and often painful experience of personal suffering.
I am the last person to deny how challenging and agonizing this fear can be for those who suffer from it, having been there myself and having heard the stories of hundreds of fellow sufferers over the years.
At the same time, there is a hidden side to this fear, which you can only discover when you stop running from it and finally face the “monster in the closet.” I have personally experienced, and have seen with many coaching clients and workshop participants, how approaching this fear in an adaptive way can lead to unexpected and far-reaching gifts.
For me and many others, this fear has served as a “wake-up call”—an invitation to pay closer attention and look more deeply at ourselves and our lives and to learn some profound lessons in the process.
The way to discover what our fear has to teach us is to stop seeing it as the enemy and instead begin to be curious about what valuable lessons it offers.
It takes quite a shift in perspective not to see this fear, and the associated symptoms that accompany it, as our enemy.
We have spent years fighting it, running from it, trying to control it and feeling it has controlled us, and trying to conquer it and feeling it has won out over us.
We have seen our fear as the thing that has stood in our way, robbing us of the level of career success, happiness, self-confidence, and peace of mind we so desire and preventing us from reaching our personal potential as a human being.
We have cursed our fear for making us feel so weak and helpless, hidden it from others as our shameful secret, and spent many sleepless nights hoping, wishing, and praying it would go away.
So how can we possibly see our fear as anything but our enemy?
I have heard it said that the most difficult people and circumstances are our greatest teachers. When life offers us people and circumstances that are easy and pleasant, we certainly relish them and wish life could always be this way.
We come to expect that life should always run smoothly and be the way we want it to be, and we may get quite disgruntled when life presents us with frustrations and obstacles instead.
Many of us who suffer from this fear have been high achievers, able to move past most obstacles in our path through a combination of determination and hard work.
In fact, as we successfully negotiated the personal and professional challenges along the way, our sense of personal power and being in control of ourselves and our lives has been strongly reinforced.
Our experience of the depth and breadth of this fear has challenged how we see ourselves at the very core and has exposed us to a deep vulnerability we are not used to feeling.
We have found it hard to accept ourselves as having this level of fear and vulnerability and, perhaps even more difficult to bear, possibly being seen by others as a person who feels so vulnerable and afraid.
We have come to see our fear as a personal weakness and believe we will be judged by others as weak and lacking if our fear and vulnerability become exposed.
Yet our fear has also forced us to pay attention to our inner life in a way that other things have not.
When our lives are working smoothly and predictably, it is easy to sail along and not question anything.
This fear has stopped us in our tracks and, in doing so, has given us the opportunity to pause and take stock of ourselves and our lives.
It is an invitation to become more conscious of patterns in our personality and approach to life that might not be serving us well. It is an opportunity to create a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and our worldview.
It is up to us how far we take this self-discovery, but however far that is, it is always an invitation to grow and evolve as a human being.
> Continued in article Getting Over Stage Fright: Introduction [on her site]
Janet Esposito, MSW, is the president of In The SpotLight, LLC, a company devoted to helping people overcome fear of public speaking and performing.
You can get her book Getting Over Stage Fright at her site above - or Amazon.
~~~~
[Image from book: Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America's #1 Fear, by Mick Berry, MFA and Michael R. Edelstein, Phd.]
Related articles:
Public Speaking and Panic Attacks
Breathing Out Stage Fright
Actors and Anxiety – Get Help For Your Stage Fright
Undo Public Speaking Fear: The Lefkoe Method
Sites for anxiety relief programs:
Undo Public Speaking Fear
Anxiety Relief Solutions
...