April 13, 2019Erin Nicole
Have you ever performed or spoke in front of an audience? I have thousands of times in my 30+ some years of life. My first memory of performing in front of people other than my parents was when I was 5 years old. My friend’s mom heard me singing one day. It was at her Promise’ (yes that’s her real name) no-sleep birthday party 🤣. We were playing truth or dare and one of the girls dared me to sing a song. I had learned a song from church and really liked it so I sang it. It was just the 5 or so of us girls and her mom. Everyone’s jaws dropped.
Her mom, Penny, said “Erin I am one of the pastor associates at Life Center Children’s Church {in Tacoma, WA}. Every once in a while they like to showcase talent in the Super Church. Would you like to sing for the service in front of the kids and adults?”
“Sure!”I said, not really knowing what I was saying yes to 😆
A few weeks or so later I was being told when I will go on the stage and sing this song and “make sure you don’t go sit down Erin as we’re going to go Christmas shopping right afterwards,”said mom.
“Okay!” I replied
I remember feeling my palms getting sweaty and my heart jumping out of my chest. I remember where my parents and brothers were standing to the left of the bleachers. There were about 300 kids in front of me and maybe 10-15 adults. I grab the 🎤 and start singing the song Pastor Kenton Lee wrote, “We Are The Future.” The same song I sang at my neighbor’s birthday party; except this time I am in front of quite a bit more people.
I can remember feeling almost like an outside of my body experience during the song. I was looking down on myself thinking, “Erin why is your voice trembling? You don’t sound like this when you sing in the car. This is so weird.”
I wish someone had a video of that performance. Maybe the church has a copy in their archives I can search for and share with you sometime. In any case, that was really my first time experiencing the stage, performance and understanding that being in front of an audience is SO different than singing privately. I learned in that moment that I could command an audience even on my first try. I learned that I can sing really well and that people will pay attention to me if I give them an opportunity. I also learned that the more I practiced the more automatic the experience and the lower my nerves.
Today’s blog is really about highlighting the use of guided imagery and visualization to help you perform at the gold standard in whatever area you are performing in. Maybe you’re a CEO of a large company and you are nervous about public speaking. Maybe you lead group therapy and you want to improve peoples’ perception of you to to build trust faster so you can make a big impact quickly. Maybe you struggle with anxiety and depression like me and want to get in front of groups of people but you’re not sure where to start. I’m confident the tips and strategies I’m sharing with you today (if applied) will make a positive impact in your elite performing no matter what industry you work in.
If you’re loving what you read, I’d appreciate your comments, thoughts and shares with those you know could benefit from my writing. Please connect with me on all social media platforms.
(This is me a few months after I sang in front of the children’s church. PS: I hated this outfit 😂. I think it was the Easter kids show, same church)
Strategies To Improve Performance
Hot Strategy 1: Know What Guided Imagery and Visualization Are
So what is guided imagery? And visualization?
It’s a tool used by professionals who are about to perform at their peak and need to channel all of their focus in on doing it successfully. Professional athletes and public speakers in performers, like musicians and actors and things like that use a guided imagery to visualize themselves performing at their best before actually getting on stage or getting on the field.
Professionals pay a sports psychologist thousands of dollars to help improve their performance.
I hadn’t heard of this profession until my undergraduate school. I’ve been performing for 27 years with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Moderate Depression (MD) and could have benefitted SO much more had I known about this neat tool at a younger age. Heck that audition with American Idol my junior year at PLU might have been better had I actually applied the skills sooner! In any case, I’m fully trained in it now and practice it regularly. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with you!
I’m sharing this information with you this week for free!
Why?
This is exactly what I went to school for and with my 27 years of experience on stage I’m excited to share my strategies with you on peak performance. I’ll share with you later in this blog an opportunity to work with me one-on-one should it make sense for both of us.
(This is my first picture upload to Facebook ever aside from profile pics, circa 2007 and also my first time visiting Nashville. I knew visiting my bro and how fun the city was that I was destined to move here. This was taken back stage at The Grand Ol’ Opry)
Hot Strategy 2: Be Okay With Not Being Perfect.
What challenge or event are you working through this month? For me, it’s rebranding my domain, logo, website host, everything technical (yay 😆) Y’all know I don’t do tech stuff aside from social media content 🤣 PTL 🙏 I have an awesome support team taking the load off! Nick your are amazing!!!! (He’s reading this because he’s sending these blogs to the new site hehe).
But for real 😳 I was stressing this weekend! I had to reset every single password and log in omg 😮 took forever! I created new accounts unintentionally and spent a TON of time not in my most productive cheery self….
Then I remembered this week’s topic and started practicing how I envisioned everything falling into place…
Not only did it calm my nerves, it also helped get me excited for this fun 😜 crazy journey. I’m not perfect at guided Imagery and visualization. No one is. It’s the process of accepting where you are starting from and imagining you in a better place so you can make a greater impact. After all, if you watch someone speak on stage and they’re a happy person feeling confident, wouldn’t you want to trust that person’s message more so than someone who stammers and doesn’t have such a confident presence? It starts from within.
Belief in your progress and love towards yourself is hands down the most important start to being an elite performer/speaker/athlete. Continue this self love through your journey. Remember no one, even Michelle Obama is not perfect (side note, absolutely loving her book right now)!
(This one made me giggle. This was in the PLU women’s locker room. Cassie is on the right and I initiated this silly photo op in between teaching our swimming classes to kiddos in the summer of 2008. When I’m not planning something, I’m extremely random and silly 🙃)
Hot Strategy 3: There is a system for guided imagery
I want to teach you how to facilitate a guided imagery session with a group. If you work with athletes, lead a team at work, or maybe you work with musicians that perform live; this strategy is especially important for you. For example, let’s say you coach a cross country team and they are getting ready for their race.
In a quiet space, get them in a place where they can imagine themselves running the race without actually 🏃♀️ yet. Ask guided questions to get them to feel all five senses, taste, touch, feel etc. Then I want you to include some obstacles that would likely happen during the race (shoelace unties, mud puddle you have to swerve around, etc). Include a resolution to each of the obstacles they face before bringing them back to the present moment.
Bring them back to reality by telling them something like, “and now we’re going to slowly open our eyes and return to this room. Feel your fingers and toes and wiggle them for me. When you’re ready go ahead and open your eyes.”
They are now ready and excited to compete 🙌.
Just like anything, guided imagery and visualization is a skill and takes practice to improve upon. What I’ve found works well is to set it up as letting the group know its okay if they lose their train of thought at times. When that happens re-focus on the breath.
I also preface the exercise with groups that maybe don’t have the belief yet by saying something like, “Did you know NFL athletes (or some famous musician) practice this on a regular basis to perform at their best?” It allows them to try something new as it’s really gold I’m sharing with them. If they idolize that performer, it can hook them on it from the start and they’ll be leaning in to your every word! (Make sure you do your research first and on who is using G.I. and V!
Hot Strategy 4: Practice Practice Practice
Maybe you don’t lead groups yet or never will, but you perform and want to get better at commanding an audience. This is a different form of leading.
Make sure to have these 4 parts every time you practice guided imagery and visualization:
1. Include the scenario (test coming up, big performance, race, etc)
2. Include all 5 senses (taste, touch, smell, etc) to make you feel like you’re actually in the moment
3. Include a possible obstacle
4. Include a resolution or multiple resolutions to the obstacle
5. Repeat repeat repeat!
(This is me singing the National Anthem at the Tacoma Rainiers (AAA Baseball) game in August of 2010, thanks to a connection in the music industry, Raymond Hayden. There was probably 6,500 people present. No biggie after a couple glasses of vino 😂. I told my advisor in grad school about it the following fall and that I wanted to not have to depend alcohol to calm my nerves since alcoholism runs in my family. We had a nice long chat about visualization, guided imagery and this new thing that I’ll share with you at a later time 😉)
Hot Strategy 5: Want to improve your quality of life?
Practice regular guided imagery & visualization! I talked a few weeks back on the power of meditation specifically with visualizing the future exactly how you want it. You literally can improve your performance by believing first that it’s possible and seeing it within your own mind..
I know I know, some of you are thinking this is so woo woo, but here’s the deal. Science and numbers don’t lie.
Go check out my previous posts, read through the blogs and empirical articles or do your own research online (I suggest google scholar or some other reputable website aside from a general internet search for accurate info).
For a select 👋 of you, I am diving deeper in guided imagery and visualization as well as providing you an opportunity to become a Certified Move Happy® Coach (& tons of bonuses) through my VIP Program starting this coming week of the 15th 🔥.
I am rolling out the next session later soon! You must be at least 18 and leading groups already or have plans to in the next year. If you have more questions, I encourage you to check out the application as I lay it all out for ya there. If you have more questions after that, feel free to reach out to me on social media, through my website or shoot me an email (whatever is easier for ya 😘).
If you want the VIP treatment and access to all the bonuses laid out in my group program but want to work 1:1, I have space for 2 people starting soon. The price is a bit higher as it is one-on-one. We will dive deeper into your specific goals and create your plan of action. We also work together for 4 months instead of 6 weeks so it’s a bit more intimate. I also prefer leading groups as I see the value of learning from others within the group setting is invaluable…. I’m so excited to work with you! Email me if you’re interested here.
Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today….
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