Stage Fright: Fear of Performing on Stage

According to Wikipedia, stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined blah blah blah. Basically, in simple words stage fright is the fear of performing on stage specially in front of huge crowd. Many of us can relate to this topic. It’s quite common, especially among teenagers and young adults.

Let me share an anecdote with you all. There was a girl named Kiki. She was a good public speaker and was also good at it. The first time she unraveled her talent was in grade 2. She hosted the event, impressing everyone in the crowd. She used to be the first one to be selected as an anchor. Everything was going well. She was living her dream. But God had something else planned for her. When she was in class 6 or 7, some girls of her class started to troll her. They used to make fun of her. Honestly those girls were jealous because of her skills. She was better than them. She was the first preference for the teacher when it comes to anchoring or hosting. Due to those trolling and bullying she became very insecure of her voice and her accent. She made walls around herself. She stopped participating. Unknowingly, she developed stage fear. Her love for public speaking never vanished but stage fright never allowed her to go on stage. After several counseling and motivation she finally took her first step to fight against her fears. Once again, she started performing on stage. Sometimes it goes well but sometimes everything got messed up because of her stage fright. She used to have adrenaline rush, trembling legs and sometimes it gets too worse that she is not able to stand. She is still struggling with her anxiety but it’s better and hope one day she will overcome it.

I shared this piece with you all so, that you know to what extent your words can affect someone. To make you all understand the seriousness of stage fright. In 2022, most of us is aware of stage fright but never take it seriously. Mocking someone over their fears is not acceptable. Instead, of making fun, you should help them overcome it. It is a serious issue. Sometimes these attacks are so serious that the one with attack can end up in hospitals. So, next time if you meet someone who is suffering from anxiety or having an attack of any sort of fright, be it stage or spiders, instead of making fun of them try to console them. Help them to fight with their fears and stand again with more strength. At last, I will just say that never make fun of a person who went on stage and messed things up because irrespective of everything they showed the courage and won over themselves to face the huge audience and address them. Praise them for that and motivate them.

-Ananya