Case Studies

Most people who suffer with performance anxiety (stagefright) describe it as devastating, terrifying, overwhelming, crippling, limiting or debilitating. Both promising and well established careers have been lost or severely limited as a result. These true scenarios and countless others from my case files are the results of performance anxiety.

A singer/songwriter who said her only thought before every show was, fear, fear, fear, "How can I get out of here and run? "I always felt like I was going to lose it in front of everyone"
A trial lawyer who admitted that, "I'd have to get half boozed up before I could face a judge and jury. I'd obsess about the case weeks before I'd have to plead it"
A dancer who wouldn't audition for a major dance troupe because as she said, "I never thought I was ready or good enough even though the choreographer of the troupe made the call to me."
A member of the clergy had been secretly self-medicating on prescription drugs for years before every Sunday service and sermon. He said, "Everybody was looking to me for help and inspiration, I felt like a fraud."
A broadcaster who was experiencing near panic attacks before going on-air, said "my mind would go blank and I'd feel like I was in a vacuum , spaced out."
A musician turned down opportunity after opportunity "because I just felt this impending dread. I'd get nearly sick to my stomach. For a few years, I even left the music business"
A salesperson declined an incredible promotion with a huge salary increase because as he said to me,"the new position would entail me having to give presentations in front of others and just the thought of that would send me into panic and hyperventilation"
A senior executive was given a opportunity to advance his career. "I suffered insomnia for a week before my interview "I was so tongue tied and anxious I was sure I was going to blow the whole thing. As it was, I was trembling and my mouth was so dry, I felt like I was going to faint."
An actor who constantly sabotaged his career by never answering the phone if it was an important callback. "I just couldn't seem to callback, I felt like I was frozen. I'd do anything to avoid making those calls. I got very creative."
A CEO who was, as he said in his own words,"terrified at the thought of having to make a presentation to stockholders and employees. It was so abstract, I was just paralyzed. It cost me my job."
A doctor who would become obsessive and over prepare for a lecture only "to screw it up anyway. I just couldn't think or talk or communicate what I really wanted to say."

These people and many others were able to overcome their stagefright. You can too. Register for my next seminar to get started, or contact me.