First off, I fully acknowledge that we are all different and that what works for some won’t work for others. You’ll need to experiment to find out what works for you.
With that said, however, simply put: Until you have the right attitude, career elements, and experience in place, it’s very possible that you will have performance anxiety and/or get nervous before and during auditions and performances. Even then, you still may experience performance anxiety and nervousness whenever the stakes feel higher than normal, no matter the stage of your career.
I think of performance anxiety as an ongoing fear or unease relating to the audition or performance process, whereas I think of nervousness as the more immediate experience right before performance.
When we get nervous before and in an audition, it feels like we’re not in control of our mind and body. We can’t think straight. It’s the effect of the body’s way of dealing with a perceived threat. The acting opportunity has triggered our fight or flight response. Intellectually, we know we’re not in any physical danger, but many of us have, unfortunately and inadvisably, tied our hopes, dreams, self-worth, identity, reputation, the
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