Eat healthily, exercise regularly and get enough sleep in the lead-up to a performance.
Rehearse your performance thoroughly to ensure that you feel confident about it.
Practice breathing techniques such as diaphragmatic (deep belly) breathing, to counteract the shallow (upper chest) breathing that occurs when you are anxious.
Visualize yourself on stage, giving a confident and successful performance.
Welcome stage fright feelings whenever you start to feel them. Repeat an affirmation-out loud if you can- such as, “Thank you for helping me to perform well.”
Repeat breathing, visualization and affirmation coping strategies as necessary, but say your affirmation in your head rather than out loud.
Keep water close by and take sips if you have a dry throat.
Motivate the intentions of your performance to keep yourself in the moment and prevent your mind from wandering. For example, focus on the meaning of the lyrics as you sing, or on the intentions of the character you are playing in a production.
Remember that you are a performer, and not a member of the audience. You cannot accurately predict the audience’s reactions to your performance, so do not try.
Please yourself and enjoy yourself during your performance. Self-criticism is for rehearsal time only.