5 Performance Psychology Skills Every Performer Needs

Ask any performer what is necessary for success and they will quickly reel off a list as long as your arm… lots of practice, hard work, support, luck, maybe even a big bank account or a sugar daddy!  Arguably the most important elements for success are often overlooked.  It doesn’t matter how much technical expertise you develop, how many scales you practice, or how much hard work you put in, without developing the core psychological skills for peak performance, even the great virtuosos would struggle.

So why do these skills often get ignored?  

It can be hard to know what these skills are, and even harder to measure and understand them.  I often find performers treat them more like innate qualities rather than learnt skills, so they might say to me “I’ve never been good at focusing” or “I’m just not a confident person”.  They don’t realise that these, and the other core psychological skills for peak performance are just that: skills, which anybody can learn with some practice.

Fortunately, researchers have already done the hard work for us and determined what the essential skills are.

How many of these skills have you mastered?
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1. Anxiety management 

“It’s okay to have butterflies in your stomach. The key is to make them fly in formation.”  Unknown

It’s perfectly natural, even helpful to get nervous during performances, but we need to know how to challenge and interpret those nerves constructively so we can use them to enhance our performance; not derail it.  Nerves are just energy, and energy exists on a continuum; some of us need to amp up our energy levels to our own optimal state for performance, others need to reduce them, or calm down a little.  Having the skills to adjust your level at will means you're never at the mercy of your nerves.
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If you agree with any of these statements, there are skills you can learn to help manage your nerves:
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• I become very anxious, worry and experience excessive tension when performing.
• When I get nervous it is a sign that things are not going well.
• I find it hard to psych myself up for a performance.
• The night before a performance I am so nervous that I find it hard to sleep.
• When I perform, my limbs shake, my mouth is dry and/or my heart is pounding.

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2. Resilience 

“Inside the ring or out, there is nothing wrong with going down, it’s staying down that’s wrong.”
Muhammad Ali
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Resilience refers to your ability to adapt to any circumstance and bounce back from negative experiences whilst finding the innate opportunity to grow and emerge stronger and more resolved.  Performance gives us endless opportunities to practice resilience!!   Resilience is not a trait that you either have or don’t have, it is a culmination of certain thoughts, actions and behaviours that anyone can develop.  We all develop resilience in different ways, but for most people, building a supportive network, evaluating experiences in a productive manner, developing and fulfilling realistic goals, being open to change, keeping things in perspective and being optimistic are all effective tools. 

Check out this amazing runner's resilience!

If you agree with any of these statements, there are skills you can learn to help increase your resilience:
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• I overanalyse mistakes or technique and end up thinking about it too much.
• I am frequently disappointed with my performance and wish it could be better.
• I get upset when things don't go according to plan.
• It takes me a long time to get back on track after a bad performance.
• As soon as I make a mistake, my performance starts to suffer.

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3. Confidence/self efficacy

“Self image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment.” 
Maxwell Maltz
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Being confident as a musician is essential to success.  If you don’t believe in what you're doing, you will approach everything timidly and constantly question your ability to succeed.  It can be hard to recognise sometimes that belief in our ability creates success, and less experienced performers often say “I’m not sure I can do this” instead of determining their ability in advance and helping their beliefs to inform their actions.  I often find young performers are wary of confidence because it gets confused with arrogance.  The way I like to see it is this:  confidence is internal, you don't need to tell anyone about it, you just need to know it for yourself.  Arrogance is external: bragging and behaving in a superior manner are often better indicators of lack of self confidence than confidence!  A better way of describing it is self-efficacy:  belief in one’s ability to succeed (research shows that self-efficacy is the number one predictor of performance). This is what we are really talking about when we say confidence. Building confidence requires slowly proving your ability to succeed in small incremental challenges as well as choosing to focus on your strengths and successes; setting goals that can be easily achieved and building on these successes.

If you agree with any of these statements, there are skills you can learn to help increase your self efficacy:
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• I doubt my skills and performing ability before and during performance.
• I am often afraid of failing and it affects my performance.
• I am not sure that I am good enough to succeed.
• I am always worried about making mistakes in performances.
• I don’t know what my worth is as a performer.

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4. Focus/concentration

“On the day I am performing I don’t hear anything anyone says to me.”
Pavarotti
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Being able to selectively choose what you are going to focus on before, during, or after a performance is another key to success.  This could be your technique, the opinions of the audience or the adjudicator, the music, your nerves, the fight you had with your loved one last night, or what you’re having for dinner.  The problem is, if your thoughts aren't focused on the things you can influence that exact moment, then you are surrendering any opportunity to influence the way your performance goes.  Check out why even just focusing on your technique is not a good idea.  With all the modern day distractions and multitasking we’re used to we rarely practice focusing our attention on one thing, so these mental muscles get rather flabby. The problem is that when performing, if we don’t choose and train where to place our attention then, for most of us, the default mode is to start worrying and to search for potential problems and vulnerabilities.
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If you agree with any of these statements, there are skills you can learn to help improve your ability to focus:
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• I get distracted by things that go on around me both onstage and off.
• I think about, or concentrate on, technique when I perform.
• I do not have well defined goals for my performances and/or my career.
• I worry about what other people think of my performing.
• When performing, my mind is consumed by destructive or unrelated thoughts.

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5. Courage

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”  
Babe Ruth

Like all of the above, courage is a skill that can be developed.  We aren’t born courageous - we develop it, through our actions and experiences and the way we interpret them.   Courage isn’t about being fearless and not caring, but about experiencing the fear and choosing to act despite it.  It’s easy to think that when we feel ready we will be ready, but in reality, this day rarely comes.  Successful performers realise that they become ready by forging ahead and taking the leap; being willing to fail and taking a chance because failure is a necessary byproduct of any success.
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If you agree with any of these statements, there are skills you can learn to help improve your ability to focus:
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• I’m afraid if I give it a go I’ll fall flat on my face.
• I need to know there is little or no risk before taking a chance.
• I’d rather not try at all than fail.
• When I feel 100% ready, then I will give it a go.
• Failure is not an option.

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If we don’t take the time to master these skills we will always be at the mercy of our nerves, shackled by our fears, and at the whim of other’s opinions.
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If you feel that developing some of these skills could help you, please don’t hesitate to email [email protected].

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​​Amy Radford is a Performance Psychologist based in Sydney, Australia.  She is passionate about translating the latest research from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies for both peak performance and career satisfaction. 

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