Performance Anxiety

Somehow, most people don't know that I have stage fright. This is probably because I frequently get up on stage and perform things. Most people also don't realize that these things are typically unrehearsed.

It's scary.

My throat tightens up and my vocal range gets narrower. I talk too fast. I get stiff all over. It's hard to move my feet. My elbow joints feel robotic. I shake. I skip words. I rush through pauses. I inflect up. These are obvious things. These are things I notice in other nervous people.

There are times it doesn't happen. There are times I'm on my game - times I'm emceeing, times it's my audience on my territory - and I have them.

But it's when I'm terrified that people talk about what a natural I am, and assume weeks of preparation.

I don't understand how it works.