Performance Anxiety Part 2: Supporting candidates to shine in recruitment and audition
For anyone whose interviews and auditions don’t show what they can actually do.
As a coach and somatic practitioner, I often work with people who freeze or panic when the stakes are high. People facing interviews, major presentations, auditions, or board meetings, who find their body taking over the moment they are required to perform in front of others.
Most of us know what we are capable of when nobody is watching. That speech was word-perfect in the mirror this morning, but now that you see everyone looking at you, your mind has gone blank. You would give Mariah a run for her money when you sing in the shower, but you believe you couldn’t reproduce that performance for an audience.
Performance Anxiety Part 1: How to shine in performance and presentation
For anyone whose interviews and auditions don’t show what they can actually do.
As a coach and somatic practitioner, I often work with people who freeze or panic when the stakes are high. People facing interviews, major presentations, auditions, or board meetings, who find their body taking over the moment they are required to perform in front of others.
Most of us know what we are capable of when nobody is watching. That speech was word-perfect in the mirror this morning, but now that you see everyone looking at you, your mind has gone blank. You would give Mariah a run for her money when you sing in the shower, but you believe you couldn’t reproduce that performance for an audience.
If you can talk, you can sing!
For anyone who says they can't sing.
The gap between anatomy and belief
When I talk about the physical and emotional benefits of singing, the most common response I hear is a variation of ‘I can't sing"‘ ‘I'm completely tone-deaf’, or ‘I would love to, but I really can't.’
It is true that a small percentage of the population has a genuine neurological barrier to processing pitch. Up to 4 per cent of people have congenital amusia, a condition that cannot be explained by hearing loss, brain injury, or other cognitive factors. Yet, in any given room, far more than 4 per cent of people will insist they are permanently and completely unable to carry a tune.
That gap between reality and the stories we tell about ourselves is significant. We accept that playing the piano, the guitar or the violin will require hundreds of hours of practice to master, even though some people seem to have more of a natural affinity for it than others. But because our voices are an inherent part of our anatomy, we tend to believe that singing tunefully is an innate, binary gift: you either have it or you don’t.
Performers are not our Property
For performers, creatives, and anyone who feels the pressure to trade their wellbeing for an audience.
The cultural appetite for watching artists unravel in public has always been voracious.
From the relentless media surveillance that hounded Amy Winehouse to the legal battles of the Free Britney movement, society has a long history of consuming a performer's talent, then demanding their trauma as an encore. We look on with voyeuristic fascination as young, highly visible artists are placed under intense scrutiny, treated as public property, and discarded when they collapse under the weight.
It's easy to shake our heads at the tabloid press or blame predatory managers, yet this dynamic points to a wider issue inside the performance industry itself. The very qualities that make someone a compelling artist – emotional sensitivity, a porous relationship with feeling, and an instinct to connect – are the exact traits commercial systems routinely exploit.
The Psychology of Voice
For anyone whose voice shakes when it matters, or who swallows what they really need to say.
When I talk about the psychology of voice, people often hope or expect to learn tactics for being heard, understood, and taken seriously, based on studies that show which pitch, accent, body language, or tone audiences best respond to. There can be real value in considering how we come across when we communicate, yet I don't offer tips and tricks that promise to endow you with an artificial air of authority, confidence, or persuasiveness. My passion lies in wholehearted, authentic communication. As a practitioner, I explore how our thoughts, emotions, and physical states shape how we express ourselves, and specialise in communication, trauma recovery, relationships, and a body-focused approach to wellbeing.
The interface between inside and outside
When I think of voice, I think about being heard, speaking out against things we find unacceptable, advocating for ourselves or others, performing or presenting in front of an audience, and the physical mechanics of speaking or singing.