How To Help Your Child Overcome Stage Fright
Best School in HSR Layout | MS Dhoni Global School Bangalore
Parents are often found contemplating enrolling their child for a dance class or a drama class because they find their child to be too hesitant to perform on stage. It is not unusual for kids to be hesitant to put themselves out there at the first lesson. Most children have a hard time facing an audience when they need to dance, perform or talk on a stage. In fact, most adults are found to have stage fright. It can be one nerve-wrecking act to be confident on stage. But what causes it? Let’s go through the possible causes of stage fright first.
What Causes of Stage Fright?
Well, there are numerous different reasons that may lead your child to experience stage fright. Finding out the real cause is crucial to find out the solutions that would take away this fear. These are some common reasons of stage fright in kids:
- Lack of confidence while performing
- Past experiences of failure or ridicule on the stage, in front of an audience
- Subconsciously comparing themselves to others
- Being low on self-esteem
- Conscious about failing or being ridiculed while performing
As mentioned above, it is crucial to know the real cause behind your child’s stage fright to help them get rid of the anxiety and fear they experience when on stage. Here are some tips that might help.
Share that it's okay to be nervous
It is not necessary to repress emotions and pretend to be perfect. You must tell your child that it’s important for them to realise that they’re allowed to feel nervous and it’s completely normal. They need to be told that they’re not alone. Even the best performers get nervous when they are on stage and they can be too. If your child is sweating about a presentation they’ve really worked hard for, calm them down and tell them that being nervous is okay but don’t let it overrule your hard work.
Help them achieve the right state of mind
When you help your child understand that it is normal to feel anxious about the presentation, it will cut down the confusion and shame they might be experiencing. Your empathy for your child today will not only boost their confidence but will also encourage them to communicate their concerns to you later in the future. However, once you’ve got your child in the right state of mind, explain to them the importance of the opportunity that they’ve received. Remind them how much they care about what they’re supposed to do on stage. Get them excited for the wonderful chance they’ve got to express themselves in a room full of people appreciating their hard work and talent. If you could turn their nervousness into excitement and enthusiasm, it is bound to do wonders for them.
Talk them through
Obviously, you won’t be able to perform in place of your child but you can certainly talk to them about your personal experiences. With their excellent imagination, they’ll visualise themselves in your place through your experiences. Tell them how you went through similar things and how you overcome your fears. Not only will that encourage them but will also inspire them to challenge themselves so that they can meet their own expectations through your assurances.
Prepare and practice
Practice truly makes a person perfect. Regardless of how good or bad your child is at performing on stage, if he or she has practiced enough to know his/ her thing, they’re bound to be confident. In fact, lack of confidence often comes from lack of solid preparation. Thus, the more you make your child practice, the better he or she gets at it. Now, there are chances where your child might have practiced a lot alone but he or she might get conscious on stage. For such circumstances, you might tell them to practice in front of you or other family members to boost confidence.
Make sure they like their appearance
In many cases, where parents are extremely supportive, children still feel uncomfortable presenting themselves to the world. Oftentimes, this is because they’re not proud of their appearance. You must tell your little one that they might not look like someone else but they look the best they can. You need to instill in their mind that their external appearance is raw and beautiful and you love them just the way they are. Make sure that eventually, they love how they appear!
At MS Dhoni Global School, we encourage our students to overcome such fears and present themselves to the audiences just the best way they can. Our association with Dance with Madhuri, and Furtados School of Music helps them nurture their creativity under the guidance of extremely talented professionals.
