Whether you are speaking in public or performing, you may appreciate these tips from violinist Clayton Haslop. In his latest blog post, he coaches a nervous violinist on how to prepare right before a performance in order to play at his best from the get-go.

What I appreciate about Clayton's tips are that they include the body-mind-emotion connection. He talks about warming up physically while belly-breathing, visualizing and focusing the mind on the desired outcome AND sinking into the feeling of what he is playing (or communicating).

And when you don't have time to prepare as you would like, Clayton says:

You breathe, you count, and you visualize. You do not allow yourself to focus on minor, or even what you may regard as major errors. You focus on telling a story of the music, on painting pictures, on communicating a gift of love.

If you want some more ways to line up your body, mind and spirit before you speak or perform, be sure to sign up for the "Becoming Fearless" e-zine (sign up at the top of this page). There is always a feature article on how to become confident and at ease in your self-expression as well as a Quick Tip of the month.