For a great performance you need competence, physical well-being and psychological well-being
To perform at your optimal level; identify, record and examine your personal triggers to both successful and unsuccessful performances.
Experiencing anxiety before, during, or after a performance is completely natural, and may even enhance your performance
How do you perform at your best in a stressful situation? Psychologist Dr Margaret Osborne is an expert in coping with performance anxiety, and lectures at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music; here is her advice for performing under pressure.
Dr Osborne says performers need three factors to work together when they’re under pressure:
Coping with anxiety
When it comes to how you mentally cope with anxiety, Dr Osborne says there are a number of things that have an impact.
“An individual’s positive or negative interpretation of anxiety is affected by their performance history, previous experience with high physiological arousal levels, degree of skill, self-confidence, self-belief in their ability to execute the task correctly, and their ability to control physical and mental anxiety symptoms,” she says.
Identify your triggers
To perform at your optimal level, Dr Osborne suggests you identify, record and examine your personal triggers to both successful and unsuccessful performances.
This will allow you to create a performance plan that meets your individual needs, and takes into account various performance scenarios (eg. amount of preparation, solo versus group performance, size of the audience, time of day, alcohol consumption etc.).
Advice for performers
In all cases, Dr Osborne has some advice for performers:
Dr Osborne says being aware of these factors can help performers manage mind and body reactions under stress to stay calm, focused and flexible.
“When performers are encouraged to understand, accept, and regulate the emotional and physiological symptoms that arise naturally when performing under pressure, they can be empowered to take constructive action and execute an optimal performance despite them,” she says.
Adapted from Osborne, M. S. (2016). Psychological skills to support performance under pressure. In A. Mornell (Ed.), Art in motion III: Performing under pressure (pp. 93-114). New York: Peter Lang