Stage fright: You would have liked to know this curve sooner

Anyone who claims that he is never nervous, cheats. It is okay to feel excitement before a “performance”. However, the decisive question is: How much of it is good for you?

Comfort zone feels good

If you relax at home, lying on your couch, you can surely perform various tasks. Watch TV, make phone calls, or write e-mails. You find yourself in your “comfort zone”.

My wish for you is that you spend most of your life in this “comfort zone”. You are relaxed and can act on a certain performance level.

But for top performance, you require more energy

You cannot reach your top performance while you relax on your couch. If you want to bring out the best in you, you have to be tense and focused. Your body must be “activated”.

In this “performance zone“, the level of physical excitement rises, your body becomes aware that “it’s now or never”. At the same time, your performance capacity increases rapidly. Up to a certain point.

Watch out, now you tip over

At a certain point, your performance capacity starts to drop like a waterfall. Your body is “overexcited” and you are overburdened – in the “danger zone”.

Avoid this error in reasoning

Many speakers will now think “I have to calm myself down”, and they want to feel “at ease” again.

But for you, this is not helpful! The way back to the comfort zone is much too long, currently out of reach. In addition, it would not increase your performance capacity.

This means for you: A small step is enough

Instead, you should acknowledge that your body reacts in accordance with the situation. It is tense, and has merely somewhat overreacted. Do not think about feeling “at ease” again, but think about being positively tense and focused.

This step to the left is small and achievable. Even if you don’t end up completely in the “performance zone”. Every step to the left means an enormous performance increase.

You will learn ways to competently deal with stage fright in the trainings Better Business Presentations, Powertalk and Storytelling.