Welcome to the first interview in our new series, What the Fact?!
Throughout 2018, we’re teaming up with the talent at the Australian National Academy of Music so that we can bring you informed answers to real questions and topics about your music career.
Ever wondered why you feel performance anxiety? What the deal is with tuning to 440Hz – or not? Why you should bother undertaking a music residency? We’re here to tell you all about it.
In our very first WTF?! we chat with ANAM’s Specialist Practitioner, psychologist Natalie Kyan about performance anxiety. Natalie is a registered psychologist with expertise in performance and mental health. She’s the go-to consultant for the Australian Ballet School, and has worked with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as well as artists across various fields in her private practice. Natalie comes from performing amateur theatre, so she knows about what it means to take to the stage and feel those nerves. Oh, and she’s also a national level swimmer and consults with gymnists, simmers, and vollyball players alike.
Let’s hack performance anxiety.
Natalie, tell us about your own experience with performance anxiety.
As a performance psychologist, I work with musicians, dancers, actors, and athletes to help them manage performance nerves and stage fright. Being an expert in this area certainly doesn’t mean I am immuned to performance anxiety myself. As a competitive swimmer in my youth, I often felt so nervous before big competitions that I thought I was going to be sick. Later in my adult life, as an amateur salsa dancer, I felt highly aware of the self-doubts and worries that overwhelmed my mind just before going on stage.
I noticed that the higher the stakes (or more important the performance was to me), the more nervous I would get. There were times when I felt I stayed in control of my body, and times where I felt like I needed to reel myself back in and actively calm myself in order to get through the performance. In my experience, nerves always felt easier to cope with when I focused on them being signs of excitement rather than a signal that something was wrong.
Recently, as a professional, I was asked to do my first radio interview, talking about this very topic. This was certainly outside my comfort zone, but I figured I couldn’t very well say ‘no’ just because I was nervous! So I prepared myself well, and used the strategies that I teach clients. I had a mental blank mid-interview (cue panic signals here)! Thankfully, I had already thought about what I could do if this happened, and decided to turn it into an opportunity to normalise the experience. Everyone gets nervous, even the professionals! Laughing it off and recognising that these things happen to us all really helped me to stay calm, move past it quickly, and get on with the task at hand.
What do you think are some of the biggest reasons we feel scared when we perform – whether they be social anxieties, fear of being in front of a crowd, or fear of making mistakes?
Anxiety is our body’s natural response to a situation that has been perceived as threatening. Now, this threat could be real or imagined; physical, emotional or social in nature; and what each individual finds threatening is generally pretty unique to them.
In the case of performance anxiety, however, the most common threats often include: fear of being judged, fear of making mistakes, fear of disappointing themselves or others, fear of repercussions (e.g. not getting through the audition, or losing your job, being berated by others, etc), and fear of looking silly or becoming embarrassed.
Performers are putting themselves out there, and musicians can feel pretty vulnerable sharing their music with an audience who, in their eyes, could be highly knowledgeable and/or critical of their performance. Generally, when you care about the outcome of a performance, you are more likely to feel anxious to do a ‘good job’ and live up to your own or others expectations.
What are some of the common side effects of performance anxiety that musicians can feel?
Common side effects of performance anxiety can be divided into three categories, and can include:
- Physical symptoms – racing heart, fast/shallow breathing, increase in blood pressure, dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating, increase in muscle tension, jittery muscles/shaking, jelly legs, butterflies in stomach, nausea, urge to go to the bathroom, dry mouth.
- Psychological symptoms – racing mind, excessive worries and doubts, focusing on negatives, catastrophising (assuming the worse-case scenario), mind blanks, difficulty concentrating, heightened emotions (in particular feeling fearful, and overwhelmed).
- Behavioural responses – urge to avoid (run and hide), adopting protective body postures (e.g. slumped shoulders, dropped head and eyes, making the body appear smaller; or in contrast – adopting a ‘fight’ stance characterised by body stiffness, pushing chest forward, tension through arms, face and jaw), withdrawal or isolation, talking faster/louder, pacing/can’t sit still, crying or other outward expressions of emotion.
Why does the body respond in these ways, and what can we do to think about preventing these effects?
The body responds this way because it has gone into ‘fight or flight’ mode. The brain has interpreted something as threatening and set off the alarm response, which activates the release of adrenalin and in turn creates all the physiological symptoms we feel in our body when we are anxious. At the same time, the blood flow in the brain shifts to enable us to prioritise staying safe, and so we lose access to some areas of the brain (like logical, rational thought, and problem solving abilities) temporarily. The body is designed to calm down again eventually, but there are certainly things we can do to kick start that process sooner.
- Learn ways to relax. It is important to build a toolkit of strategies that you can use in many different situations. Deep breathing, and muscle relaxation strategies are a great place to start. You can also explore other pursuits which help you to relax, or release adrenalin from your body. For example, exercise is a great way to use up adrenaline, and train your body to notice what it needs. Engaging in fun activities, staying social, talking with others, and taking time out for yourself can also help you to feel more relaxed and maintain your perspective in the lead up to performances.
- Learn ways to tune in. Mindfulness and meditation can help you train to notice and relate to your thoughts differently. It can also help you become more present and in the moment, and able to notice early warning signs of anxiety before they become too overwhelming.
- Learn ways to talk yourself down. Cognitive strategies teach you to relate differently to your thoughts, to challenge them and to expand your perspective so that your thoughts don’t have to overwhelm you. Working with a psychologist can really help here, to identify the types of thinking you can get stuck in when anxious, and find pathways out and back towards a more optimal state of mind for performance.
- Accept and be prepared for nerves. Nerves are an expected and natural part of performing. I always like to say the best defence is a good offense, and so it helps to plan and prepare for nerves (rather than put your head in the sand and hope they won’t be an issue).
Developing a pre-performance routine, which is consistent and familiar, can help to get you into your ideal physical and mental state for performance. Incorporating strategies to help you relax backstage (or between pieces of music) can be really useful here to keep the nerves at a manageable level.
If a young musician who experiences these anxieties is reading this story, what would you say are some of the top activities they can immediately put into place to get started on a more peaceful performance journey?
Firstly, it’s important to know you are not alone! Anxiety is normal and affects everyone. Even if others don’t talk about it, that doesn’t mean they have never experienced it.
My number one tip is talk to people about what they do to help prepare mentally for performance, and manage their nerves. Then try things and see what helps you. There are many things you can try on your own, but getting support and advice from others can prove invaluable. Performance psychologists can help to build strategies to manage anxiety, and also help examine what is feeling threatening in the first place. If we can address the perception of threat, we can better manage anxiety if/when it presents.
Any other pieces of advice or anything else you’d like to add?
The anxiety response is normal, and we can learn to manage it. This knowledge is powerful! We do not have to suffer through it. We can learn to re-interpret the symptoms as energising excitement, and we can learn to find the sweet spot that is our own personal zone where we function optimally – where some level of nerves are expected and even prove useful, and where we have strategies to help us shift back into the zone if we go too far beyond into ‘panic land’.
Watch young musicians brave up to performance anxiety when you support their concert Bohemia with the Australian National Academy of Music at 7.30 March 10 in the South Melbourne Town Hall. Expect a program featuring Janáček, Smetana, and Suk – get your tix online.
Check back in soon for our next What the Fact?! with professionals in the music industry.
This information is published as a general discussion covering topics on music and mental health related to performance anxiety. It should not be taken as formal advice. If you are experiencing issues outlined in this interview or beyond please contact your GP or headspace.
Emoji via APACHE – License 2.0.
