Imagine that you are an actor performing in a play for the first time. You have learned all your lines and you know where to walk on stage. Waiting behind the closed curtain, you can hear the audience whispering and taking their seats.
Then your big moment arrives! The curtain goes up, and the crowd falls silent. All you can see is the spotlight shining down on you. The inside of your mouth is dry, and your hands are wet.
If you have experienced a moment like this, you know all too well what it means to have stage fright. It is one of the most common types of fear and tends to strike people when they find themselves at the centre of attention. People experience it when playing sports, giving a presentation, or even speaking in class. A person who suffers from stage fright may get sweaty hands, a dry mouth, a tight throat, or shaky knees. Stage fright is actually a form of panic (恐慌), and these feelings are very real.
The experience differs from person to person, but the same chemical process takes place in each of us. In reaction to anxiety, our bodies produce a chemical that prepares us to either fight or run away quickly. Scientists refer to this as our bodies' "fight or flight" reaction. As a result, we feel great energy that makes our hands sweat, our hearts race, and our knees shake
Practicing your performance and following some simple tips can help calm nerves and manage the feelings caused by anxiety. First, dress comfortably and properly. Second, before the performance, take deep breaths and stretch to help relax your body. Third, stay away from drinks that contain caffeine (咖啡因). Instead, try a banana! Some doctors believe that eating a banana can help calm your heart and the rest of your body. Finally, when you look at a crowd, try to focus on particular people instead of the whole group. These tips have helped many people learn to deal with their fears.
A. These might make your heart race even faster.
B. Stage fright is part of the body's reaction to stress.
C. You don't have to be onstage to get stage fright.
D. The good news about stage fright is that here are ways to deal with it.
E. Therefore, you'd better learn to be relaxed about this fear.
F. Then you try to speak your lines, but nothing seems to come out.
G. An researcher once gave some tips to cope with the stress
