Playing your way to Confident, Successful Performance

“A playful performer is less likely to let fear take over when basking in the moment without a scorecard, time limit, or expectation. We are more likely to be present, calm and available to the flow of creative intelligence. Playfulness allows us to enlist and embrace our audience in our performance adventure. We are less intimidated by their questions, ideas, and responses. We play together to co-create a remarkable experience, one that turns out to be far superior to what we may have imagined in our solitary ivory tower of preparation.” From my book: Conscious Performing…from fear to freedom.

When I present at conferences, workshops or speaking engagements, I have one focus, and that is to be in the moment with my audience and play. I want to be engaged, creative and connected to my new friends. I have a plan, but in this never to be repeated again, moment in time, I want to be free to feel into my internal inspiration and spark the creative energy in the room. And you may ask, “How is this done?” The answer is PLAY.

So, what does play look like when presenting to an audience. First, it’s about letting go of how you look, worry about doing a great job, expectations or the need to follow your plan. It’s about feeling into the moment and reacting to the energy that is present. Play is about being loose in your body and feeling the free flowing energy spiraling within. Play is finding your performance zone of flow and bliss. Imagine your performance, your life, as a sandbox with lots of toys and friends. Let go, feel into the flow and PLAY.

People are coming to me all the time, looking for tools and techniques to overcome performance anxiety and reach their peak performing potential. The real problem is that we, as a culture, not only don’t play, but we live in a chronic state of anxiety. No wonder so many people are plagued by performance anxiety….life anxiety.
So let’s experiment as a group, on moving toward a life style that promotes a central nervous system that is not on the edge of panic. Instead, let’s play with ideas to sooth the central nervous system making way for life performances that reflect our unique potential.