1.It’s mind games that trigger the nerves

You have got to have a positive mood on your singing, you know you can sing beautifully, you’ve heard yourself before. It’s when you believe you have a nice voice while you’re singing you end up singing nicely. It’s only when doubt comes in, you end up pulling those ‘that notes too high’, ‘is it suppose to sound like this?’ faces that pull on your throat muscles and change the shape of the cave in your mouth. Doing this will sharpen and flatten the notes, take away the colorful sounds and make you doubt even more and it just gets worse and worse. It’s also why you should relax your muscles before you start. You’ll end up starting off on a wrong note because your throat is too tense. Also remember, singing is the sounds you make. You want to make sure you’re making the right sound. So doubt won’t help. Think about what ever it is that makes you feel relaxed and learn to block out negative thoughts.

2. Make the song your own

Practice in the mirror musical theatre gestures and expressions from the films. Get different songs and create your own. Avoid trying to make a routine movement for auditions, it looks rehearsed and sometimes it adds pressure to what you have to do. Just going with what you feel at the time looks natural and natural looks good. It’s always good to go over the top a few time because it makes it feel more natural when you calm down into a more believable performance in the song. Like singing songs operatic, after being so loud, you’d be more comfortable toning it down to just loud. The size of the room and style of music you’ll be singing will determine how big you’re gestures and expressions should be. If you’re in a large performing area you can make larger gestures, move more, and fill the room with energy. In a smaller venue you can tone down the activity of your body, hands and face but keep the emotions high!

3.Jump into the song and start acting

Take your self-consciousness from the audience and turn to the music/lyrics in the song your singing. Read through the song, try and find some relations to the words as if they were your own. If you can’t do that, switch into acting mode and play this character singing this song. Think of the positive points in the song and the bad points, feeling these emotions naturally makes your muscles react to create the tension where it would naturally react and it would sound like you’re ‘singing from the heart’.

4.‘Practice makes perfect’

Practice performing in front of family and friends to get a sense of how to direct your energy. You will gain experience and develop self confidence by performing for an audience. If you want to, ask for some criticism, they might be able to tell you what’s good and what was not so good. This constructive criticism can help you with what you need to practice on more. Nobody was born a perfect singer, it’s 10% talent, 90% hard work and determination.