Complete Idiot's Guide to Conquering Fear and Anxiety

Page 189Gradual ExposureAs with the other phobias, you can inoculate yourself against your fear by giving yourself little doses of fright at a time. Construct your own fantasy hierarchy andimagine in your mind each step along the way to the actual performance. Remember to stop and relax after each step before going on to the next. A dancer's fantasyhierarchy might look something like this:1. I am walking up the theater steps.2. I am in my dressing room putting on my tights and leotard.3. I am putting on my make­up.4. The stage manager comes in and announces 30 minutes until show time.5. I am backstage doing warm­up stretches.6. I hear the musicians warming up.7. The stage manager announces ten minutes until show time.8. The orchestra starts to play.9. We take our places on the stage.10. The curtain goes up.11. I start dancing my heart out.Next step­show time!Practice Makes PerfectNow that you've psyched yourself up for giving a good performance, what is your best strategy to ensure the least amount of nervousness during the delivery? Theanswer: Prepare and practice. Then prepare and practice some more. You don't want to learn your performance. You want to over learn it so that it just flows out ofyou. You want to become one with your audience and transcend self. The more performing skills you possess, the more you will think positively about yourperformance and the less about your stage fright.Tricks of the TradeIn preparing your performance, identify what might throw you and then devise a game plan to diminish the likelihood of this happening. Here are some examples: