Fake It Til You Make It
BY Claire Wiltshire
Is beating performance anxiety the real act? Claire Wiltshire puts the stars on the spot.
Public speaking is the single biggest fear in most people. Yes, scarier than dying, apparently. Jerry Seinfeld pointed out the irony that, by this rationale, at a funeral we’d rather be lying in the coffin that reading the eulogy. While many face the fear of public speaking on a debate team at school, giving a talk at uni or delivering a report in a meeting at work, some creative types regularly hurl themselves in at the deep end. Buskers risk their dignity to make us all the wiser to their talents (or pull together enough change for the bus ride home), rock musicians can hide behind floppy hair or ride the nervous energy into super-stardom. Even the humble music journo has to face up to his or her self-conscious side by drilling interviewees on their personal lives and insights.
But in any of these terrifying scenarios, the comedian, interviewer or musician must disguise their nerves at all costs, or the game is up. Avoiding the shaky hands and apologies (“you’ll have to forgive me, I’m a bit nervous, I’ve never played in front of so many people before”) is important in all these professions. There is a little trick that allows them all to get on with the job at hand. It’s called faking it – confidence that is.
Comedian and television personality James O’Loghlin shares tools of the faking trade in his new book Ummm. He is quick to illuminate what it actually is we fear when put upon to deliver a speech or dazzle in a job interview. Judgement and consequent humiliation are the triggers to nervousness and self-doubt. You risk people thinking you are dumb or boring. The one shot you have at sharing your talents and wisdom to the world may be shot down in the resilient silence of the audience.
Melbourne actor and comedian Dave Quirk agrees that this is a fundamental in delivering stand-up. “[You get nervous] because you’re being judged. And because with comedy, you’re looking for one response – you’re looking for laughter. That’s what you have to do. I’ve told jokes hundreds of times and it’s worked, and then, just last week I had a gig and the same words were coming out of my mouth but the audience was just not reacting. At this point I’m just talking to the audience – it’s boring for me, it’s boring for them.”
A recent Australian article profiles James O’Loghlin and performance consultant Melissa Bruce on the rattling practice of public speaking. Melissa coaches TV hosts and other professionals on delivering good speeches and says admission of nerves is a no-no. “Ummms should go. Leave out the bad jokes and never say ‘unaccustomed as I am to public speaking’.”
Freezing up in the middle of a performance or in the midst of interviewing a famous person on the radio is the point where the fear has materialised. This is to be avoided at all costs.
“Unfortunately the best way to get over most nerves is just experience. You don’t learn to walk until you realise that you hate falling over. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake and when you do, have a sense of humour. If you start freaking out, your interviewee is going to become really uncomfortable!” says radio presenter and producer Jess Myles.
Jess combines the fear of the famous with the urgency of airtime in pressure-packed live interviews. “I used to get really nervous doing interviews, I still do! I am pretty shy by nature, so social interaction can be hard at the best of times, let alone trying to get my questions right, listening intently, getting the audio levels perfect, steering the conversation etc. I get through nerves by focusing on the job at hand. Interviewing is just a job.”
Rolling Stone</> magazine whiz-kid Jancee Dunn brings out the dirt on her celebrity encounters in a tell-all book Enough About Me. Despite having a few key factors in place for apparent confidence (being American is arguably a good start) and a backlog of heavyweight celebrity encounters behind her, Dunn recounts the urgency to disguise the terror she experienced before coming face-to-face with Madonna.
“Why, you may well ask, do I get so nervous before interviews? [It’s] the familiarity factor.” She goes on to describe her usual dose of herbal calming pills not working on high-calibre stars and the panic at not wanting to reveal her nerves to arguably the biggest star in pop music history. “One of the people at her record company advised me not to act afraid, because she smells fear, like a dog.”
Jancee suffers an unfortunate case of sweaty palms when struck by fame induced nerves and breaks into hives when asking Ben Affleck about his views on the recently defunct Bennifer ensemble. Driven by the pressure to get the most interesting quotes out the star to produce a story that makes the cover of Rolling Stone</>, Jancee stockpiles “lightweight emergency questions” for those times when nothing pops into her head.
Jess Myles agrees that showing fear can throw your interview right out of whack. “In my experience, admitting you are nervous is a double edged sword. Sometimes it helps disarm both yourself and your interviewee. However, it can also make you really self-conscious…which is suicide.”
The trick is to find a way to keep on faking it until you finally conquer the nerves. Or you don’t give a shit any more. Ride high on the wave of nervous energy adrenalin. Have a laugh. Failing that, down some tranquilisers and a shot of tequila and hope for the best. It sure ain’t worth dying for.