As a songwriter, I used to hide away and just write songs. No performing at all, though I love to sing. But on the few occasions that I tried to perform, my mind would go completely blank. Poof. Words gone. Changes gone. Melody gone. Total humiliation. So... I started working on the stagefright thing. I am one of the coordinators in our local NSAI workshop, and about 8 years ago I made a decision to perform my songs live in the workshop whenever we do a song critique night (or as often as possible). I started signing up for songwriter showcase opportunities. I have made real progress on the terror ... now it's just the audience <rofl>. Recently, I hosted (and took part in) a public concert event with some top-drawer musicians who are also friends of mine. It went great...after a near shipwreck on the first song, I got into the moment and just performed. We had great audience feedback during and after. Lots of work to be done ... I still need my cheat sheets, for example, abut it just goes to show. We can improve many things with hard work and persistence.

Regards
Bruce Madole