night. I rehearsed at every rehearsal, I memorized my lines, I went over them every night, what else can I do? Sometimes being totally prepared and knowing exactly what you are going to say does not completely alleviate that tingling feeling in your hands, the butterflies in your stomach, or the loss for words. This comes from an intimidation that the actor creates in her head about the audience looking out at her. This is not necessarily a lack of preparation but more of lack of concentration, or focus. Focus is another key thing an actor or a speaker needs in order to overcome stage fright. Focus allows the actor, once onstage, to be able to concentrate on the script of the play and the actions there in. When an actor has complete focus on the play and lets her character take over her body; she is more likely to perform in a more controlled and calm manner. And if for some reason something does go amiss, then she will be more likely to quickly make up for it than if she were not calm and collected. Likewise, when the actor also realizes the audience is in a stationary location and that they are not going to move in closer and surround her, she can guide her focus back to the action on stage and continue with the performance. However, Sarahs problem stems from before she goes onstage; the apprehension about being onstage in front of hundreds of people. To overcome this she needs to warm up her body to be ready to go on stage. Deep breathing exercises help relax the actor as well as loosen up her chest and diaphragm to be prepared to project her voice.Sarah remembered her teacher saying this but she had a limited amount of time before her cue. Throwing her last bit of hope into this she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Sarah imagined the worst possible scenario that could ever happen out on stage, became scared and then laughed at her imagination. When she opened her eyes she peered at the audience one last time before s...
