There are many ways to manage those nerves you feel when you go onstage for a performance. A few examples:
- Distract (conversation, a game on your phone, a dance party)
- Mental Checklist (everything you need to do, and when, until you walk onstage)
- Meditate
- Mitigate them with a medication like a beta-blocker
These and many other strategies can be effective. The challenge for young performers is that they won’t know which one is most effective until after their first performance(s). Each of us has different needs, and it’s only with trial and error that we can learn how to deal with our own personal nerves.
The one thing that I know is most effective to me is preparation. I know that I will experience tunnel vision onstage even now, and I know that I am most relaxed and perform best when I have prepared beyond what feels like “enough.” When I’m so prepared that I can perform well through major distractions in rehearsal, then I know that I will still be able to thrive through my own nerves.