Remember they probably like you

The Words of Wisdom this week are Remember they probably like you. It’s about my theory of stage fright, or, if you prefer, performance anxiety. Our ancestors spent some millions of years as hunter gatherers, living in small groups, before we invented settled agriculture, cities and industry and information technology. Therefore we remain better adapted to a hunter gatherer type of life than to coping with the modern world. To a hunter gatherer, being stared at by a stranger means aggression. Being stared at by a group of strangers provokes a strong flight or fight reaction. The red warning light goes on automatically. This is the cause of stage fright and it’s indicative that it is often worse for a performer in front of a live audience of fifty than in front of an unseen TV audience of millions. It’s the fear of being stared at by a group of strangers. Our inner hunter gatherer doesn’t know that the reason they’re staring at us is because they’re interested and they probably like us. And, sitting in the theatre, the audience is licensed to stare at the performers. We’re taught as children that it’s rude to stare, but this is not the case when we’re being entertained. So the first step to take to turn off the red warning light is to remember they probably like you. That will help turn your fear to stimulation.