Deadly Sin #6 - Unpreparedness

Deadly Sin #6 - Failed to be in peak form on the day / prepare the instrument

Consider this nightmare scenario.  You've invested years in your skills and your reputation as a performer.  You have great material that you understand thoroughly, you have a high-impact, authentic story, you have a well-crafted and effective plan, and you've rehearsed your performance to professional standards.  You are ready for the stage!  Then, on the day of your debut, you forget to warm up your voice, and you BOMB.  Ouch!

Now you can't protect yourself from freak blizzards or meteors that strike your venue, but there's still an awful lot you can do to increase the odds that you'll be able to put your very best performance on stage when it counts.  Some are long-term, and some are short.  Read on.

Let's start with the long-term, continuous projects.  You need to keep in good general health, good physical fitness, and good vocal shape.  Nothing will get in the way of your expression more easily than a painful stiff back or a crick in your neck, or a lack of energy.  As a stage performer your body is your instrument, and you would never catch a bassoon player treating their instrument like most people treat their bodies!  A big part of training for the stage is keeping the body strong and flexible.  This means protecting time in your day for exercise and stretching, and eating well.  You should do this stuff anyway, and you know it!  But as a performer you really have no choice.  To fall apart physically is to kill your career, amateur or professional.

Once the overall fitness it taken care of, you will have some specifics that depend on your chosen craft.  If you're a singer, speaker or actor, your voice needs to stay in shape.  That means basically two things: don't get dehydrated, and use your voice properly every day.  It's just a matter of discipline.  If you play an instrument, you can relax a bit about your voice, but you will need to be concerned about the various useful muscles and callouses that adapt you to your chosen instrument.  Play every day.

That's the hard stuff.  Just accept that excelling at your chosen craft is going to dictate your lifestyle to some extent - that's a fact, so don't fight it.  Anyway you aren't getting anything useful out of watching TV or playing video games - ditch the useless time in your routine and use it to further your valuable performance goals instead.  You will be happy you did.

Now the short-term stuff.  Leading up to a particular performance, you'll need to focus on a few more things to give yourself the best possible chance of being 100% on the big day.

I know it's obvious but try not to get sick!  You should be healthy overall, but that doesn't mean you're immune to nasty bugs.  Avoid sick people like... well like the plague!  They shouldn't be out infecting people in the first place, but surely they will understand if you decline to shake their snotty, germy hand.  Your most vulnerable point is your eyes - far and away the most common route for infection is from your environment to your hands to your eyes.  So wash your hands regularly and break that chain.  Especially if you have a burning need to rub your eyes!

There's also a lot you can do to keep your immune system in fighting trim.  Eat well, like you should be anyway - lots of vegetables and fruits, a good multi-vitamin.  Get enough sleep.  If anyone complains about your suddenly taking on healthy habits, tell them you're got an important performance in a few days - that will probably keep their derision at bay.  (Geez you might even spread healthy habits to your family and friends!  A pleasant side-effect...)

Finally you need to be in the right frame of mind when your strong, flexible and healthy body hits the stage.  If you have issues about stage fright and anxiety, deal with them!  Develop a pre-stage routine that calms your mind and removes distractions, so you can focus your attention on your high-impact story while you run your plan.  I already wrote a pretty good series on preparing for the stage, which you might want to study.

After that, you will have done everything you can do.  If a meteor lands on your house it's still going to disrupt your performance, but at least it won't be your fault.