Making an awesome song in the studio is one thing. Performing it live in front of a huge audience is totally different. With all those lights and eyes on you, it's very easy to lose your mind and freeze up. If this has ever happened to you, don't beat yourself up. You're not the only one who's fallen victim to the marauder called stage fright.

It doesn't have to be that way anymore. As gripping as stage fright is, you can beat it, and I'll show you how. Here are seven tips to help you send stage fright packing.

Seven Tips to Beat Stage Fright

If you're tired of making banger songs but always shying away from live performances, pay attention…

Face your fears

To beat your fear, you must first face it. I know it's a cliché, but it became one for a reason. It's true. The best way to beat any fear you have is to face it head-on, and stage fright is no different. Get on stage more often, and perform as much as you can. The more you do it, the easier it'll get. The more time you spend on stage, the more it feels like home.

None of your favorite onstage performers was born that way. They all built the ability by getting on stage over and over. Remember that stage fright is all in your head, so the only power it has over you is the power you give it. It's easier said than done to ignore it, but the first time is always the hardest.

Play it out in your head

Before you go onstage, it's important to have a mental picture of your performance. Play it all out in your head. Do you have a special entrance planned? Is there a dance routine? How would you like it all to go?

Watch the performance in your head. This is important because you'll see yourself performing without the inhibitions of stage fright. Painting this picture will help guide you when you finally get onstage.

Be careful not to overthink it, though. Anxiety rises from too much thinking and zero action. You don't want to think about it so hard you get too worried about your ability. This should only serve as a way to form a mental blueprint of your performance, just before you actually get onstage.

Find a distraction

Again, anxiety rises when overthinking pairs with analysis by paralysis. A good way to fight stage fright is to avoid thinking about your performance for too long. And a distraction is the perfect way to take your mind off it.

Whenever you start thinking too hard about a performance, find something to keep you occupied. Play a game, read a book, take a walk or do anything else you find relaxing that has nothing to do with your performance.

This helps your brain relax and keeps your nerves calm, and there's nothing more important when you get on stage than calm nerves. With calm nerves, you can soak in the attention, then block it out, and eventually revel in it.

Start small and scale up

This one's my favorite. Stage fright is so powerful because you don't want to make a fool of yourself in front of so many people, but what if the stakes aren't so high? What if there's no crowd? What if it's just you in front of your mirror? You'd be flying if all you had to do was perform in front of your mirror, wouldn't you? Good, start there.

Once comfortable enough, get an audience. Not a large audience, start with just a few friends and family. Still no pressure. Scale up again, perhaps go to your local bar and play them a song. Slowly but surely, keep increasing your audience. By the time you get to the big stage, all your smaller performances will have equipped you with two powerful weapons: practice and confidence.

Remember that the first performance is always the hardest. By starting small, you can make even that a piece of cake. Start with an audience of zero and build up slowly. By the time you get to a thousand, they'll be no stopping you.

Get comfortable with the audience

My father always used to say it's good to start a serious meeting with a joke. I never understood that, but I tried it the first time I stood in front of people. The effect was unbelievable. That one bad joke took off all the tension in the air. I relaxed, my audience relaxed, and it all went smoothly from there.

You don't have to tell a joke, but it's important to get comfortable with the audience. I'll say this again, you must first soak in the attention before you can revel in it. So make a joke, calm down and smile, find some friendly faces in the audience you can look to for moral support, and do whatever puts you at ease. It'll work wonders for your confidence.

Stage fright can seem like the end of the world, when in fact it's the moment your world is opening up in front of you. Time to take your steps to freedom.

Practice hard

Have you noticed that every round of rehearsal doesn't go exactly the same way? The first round is probably the most basic. But as you get more and more into it, the extra creativity starts to pop out. Now there's an extra ad-lib somewhere, a vocal run off the top of your head, or even something extra with the instruments.

The more you practice, the more comfortable you get. And the more comfortable you get, the easier it is to flow at the moment. When you rehearse so much for a performance that all the movements come like second nature, they'll be no place for stage fright. Even if some of it lingers, the first cheer from the crowd will send it packing for good.

Embrace the pressure

Believe it or not, pressure is a good thing. All those nerves you hate so much are actually good for you. Here's why. You will only feel all those nerves if you care about what you do, which means you'll put in your very best. When you switch your mentality to view pressure as a good sign instead of a bad one, you'll learn to embrace it. And when you embrace it, you can kiss stage fright goodbye.

Final Thoughts

I once read of a survey that found public speaking to be the number one fear of humans, with death in second place. Isn't it incredible that some people would literally rather die than stand before a crowd? Fortunately for most of them, they never have to do it. Unfortunately for them, they won't get the thrill and excitement that comes with it. Banish your stage fright, and it's all yours.

Overcoming stage fright | Linda Apple Monson | TEDxGeorgeMasonU