This is a feeling that I strongly believe every single human, extant and extinct, has had.
Think about your last exam (IELTS maybe? Having to express your ideas in spoken English eloquently with a complete native-speaker stranger). Or the moment you had to show off your musical skills (by means of strumming your beloved accoustic guitar perhaps?) in front of 'millions' of eyes directed towards you and no-one else. And how about the last interview you went on for that highly desired job in a super tantalizing company?
I'm sure you just flashbacked to some point in time when your security was sort of 'threatened' and this annoying quality overwhelmed you in such a way that you didn't perform satisfactorily. Well, you are not alone; we've been in the same boat.
A few years ago, I decided to compete in a Chinese singing contest organized by my university. Of course, Jay Chou was the main motivation for that (seriously, I'm still wondering why such a prodigy could possibly exist in the world), and the awe-inspiring life-saving 2008 song 稻香 (Rice Fragrance) was what I selected to be the centerpiece of my show.
The time had come. I got on the stage in one of the classrooms to take an opportunity to do my portion of evanJaylization. There were 3 judges (in I'm not mistaken) in front of me and behind them were sitting around 40 people ready to watch me sing the heavenly king's song. However, things didn't go as I wanted them to. My voice was weak and I didn't produce sounds as impressively as I can in the relatively small bathroom of my simply designed house. In short, it was a flop.
Now let's turn our attention to the second last sentence of the previous paragraph. I CAN sing the song well while taking a shower! (although you really can't compared it to those flawless jaw-dropping performances of Jay) I am ABLE to do that. The problem that led to my disappointing performance was my sheer tense (not to mention the fact that the KTV version of the song didn't meet my expectations), and it markedly affected my action in a negative way, resulting in me not qualifying for the next round. Isn't it a pity that one cannot display their maximum ability only due to some irritating psychological state? How do we overcome it?
First things first, we need to really understand what being nervous exactly is. It is an occurrence when we are afraid that what we are doing (or will do) will turn out badly. Ironically, this particular feeling encourages that nightmarish outcome. Therefore, what we need to do is to change our mindset; in other words, we need to keep our attention on giving the best to the audience or whoever else/whatever. I realize it would appear to be easier said than done, but there it is.
It is vital to do anything not in such a degrading condition. Possessing a considerable (but not excessive) degree of confidence, which is indispensable for success, certainly brings out the best in you.
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