Countless musicians and performing artists are familiar with the unwelcome effects of performance anxiety, also known as stage fright. Whether it happens at random or all of the time, performance anxiety has prevented many artists from utilizing their full performing capacity. It’s disruptive, it crushes dreams, it sometimes ends careers. It is easier to believe that one lacks talent than it is to observe how personal experiences have directly affected one’s natural learning process and ability to perform. Whether a performer is simply excited, derailed by unforeseen events, or shut down by feelings of shame or isolation, there is a way back to confidence. The goal of this session is to provide a starting point from which artists may work through their own experiences of performance anxiety.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.