Overcoming Fear of Failure: What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

We're Xun Yun dancers, also known as the Three Musketeers, and we've performed with Xun Yun in over 1,000 performances. We don't get stage fright anymore, and we'll share with you our secret to overcoming it. First, let's try to understand why we have stage fright. So, for a lot of people, it's a fear of failure or embarrassment. When we're performing, we're scared of messing up, and then we lose face or, you know, our reputation will be tarnished. Sam, do you get this often? Reputation tarnished. Tarnished. Reputation. I feel it every time I'm next to you. Okay, how about you, Jisung? I'm okay. Ooh, very confident person. Such a confident guy. Alright, let's get into our tips. Okay, so the first tip is practice, practice, practice. Every single year, we put on about 100 performances, right? When we go out to perform. But before that, we're in the studio, and we're rehearsing countless times. You can't count how many times we've been through dances. So the more confident and familiar you are with what you're performing, the better you'll be. Yeah, definitely. If you were to go out and perform without a dress rehearsal, would you be confident? I don't think so. Yeah, definitely not. Okay, so you gotta practice. But if that doesn't help, we'll move on to our next tip. So my tip is to visualize the worst thing that can happen. Let me explain. So when I was in my dance competition, I was really nervous. But when I thought about it, what is the worst thing that can even happen? Okay, so I fail, and I get kicked out of the competition. But there's always next year. And I can improve next year and try again. So that's actually not that bad. When you think about it like that, you're not as afraid, because, you know, it's not that scary. What is your tip, Jisung? Okay, my tip is get into the character. So what is it called? It's called 入戏 in Chinese. And it means that you're so into the character, so it's like the way of your thinking, and then your surroundings change to the character you're portraying. You won't actually think about other people, or audience, or anything. You're actually in that character. So you're not going to feel anything, because you are the character. There's something called the spotlight effect, okay? It's a phenomenon where you think that everyone is looking at you, but actually no one cares about you. Not no one cares about you, Sam. I care about you. Don't. I don't believe you. The funny thing is, okay, people, this is for stage usually. You're on stage, and you think that everyone's watching you, so you're really nervous. But actually they're watching another dancer, or they're watching, you know, something else. This terminology is actually not used for only on stage, but for daily life. Like you're walking in school or at work, and you think everyone's looking at you. Or if you're in the gym working out as well. And I think a lot too. I'm like, okay, I think that person on the left side of the gym is staring at me right now, so I'm going to make sure I do this the right way. So it's for people who are very self-centered. The world doesn't revolve around you all the time, Sam. Just kidding. Okay, I want the self-centered part. But anyway, this also brings up another point where sometimes you make a mistake when you're performing or giving a speech, and you're like, oh my goodness, I made a horrible mistake. But people actually don't notice those mistakes unless you bring it up. So, you know, just roll with it. Check out this kid. Relax, relax. Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. Everything's going to be fine. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Oh, that is pretty bad. Oh, I gotta go. Wait, is that guy staring at me? Oh no, he doesn't look very impressed. Oh no, it's okay, okay. It's okay, okay, don't worry about it. Just keep going, just keep going. It's fine. Is he drinking a bubble tea? This is a high-class performance. He can't be doing that. Wait, okay, it's okay. Everything's fine, don't worry. Just ignore him. Keep going, keep going. It's fine. Are you sleeping? Are you kidding me? I'm working so hard here. Worst performance ever. I'm getting off. No, no more. Sam, Sam. Thank you so much. Here, here's some roses. That was such an amazing performance. Thank you so much. Really? It was good? No, it was amazing. You are one of the best dancers I've ever seen in my life. Thank you so much. Alright, our final tip is to let go of yourself and remember what your true motivation for performing is. Because I've been performing with Shen Yun for 15 years. And one reason why I'm still able to keep it up is because I think what we present in our performance is something that's truly worth sharing. Now, on top of all of the beautiful dancing, music, costumes and backdrop, China has 5000 years of history. And there are numerous epic legends, historic stories that are not only entertaining to watch on the stage, but it also carries underlying values such as truthfulness, compassion, loyalty, wisdom. So all of that is something that's really important, I think, in today's society. So when you look at the bigger picture, you forget about your fears and you remember what you're actually contributing and bringing to the audience. Those are our tips for how to overcome stage fright. Let us know in the comments below if you have any tips for us as well. And if you're curious about how Shen Yun dancers are so flexible, check out this video we made about our stretching stories. And please hit the like button and subscribe so you don't miss our next video. And we'll see you all next time!