Most occupations, hobbies, and passions entail some form of public performance. The athlete performs on a small stage during practices and a big stage during games. The artist performs on the small stage during rehearsals and the big stage during the show. The business person performs on the small stage during meetings and on the big stage during a sales pitch. The teacher performs on the small stage when in front of a small group of familiar students and on the big stage when they teach a large group while being formally observed by an administrator. The parent performs on the small stage in their living room while telling their kids to clean up and on the big stage when managing a full blown temper tantrum at the pool in front of everyone. Performance is greatly influenced by the audience: observing, smiling, judging, belittling, applauding, condemning, criticizing, disapproving (The greater number of negative adjectives is no coincidence.) It is the quality of the performance that will influence the type of audience reaction, but sometimes there is very little the performer can do to change a predetermined evaluation by the audience. But this post is not focusing on the appraisal of the public audience. I'm talking about the imagined audience has taken permanent residence in the mind with the performer. Because I'm a sport psychologist, I'm going to use a collegiate athlete as my example, but feel free to insert any style of performer you chose.
It's late May and the academic year has recently concluded. The athlete, who will enter his sophomore season, begins to develop an off-season training plan full of weight lifting, long distance running, interval training, strict diet, flexibility exercises, and of course game-like scrimmages. The summer becomes hotter and the days grow longer, which makes adherence to this plan more challenging, but if our athlete sticks with the plan, he will set himself up for success in late summer preseason and throughout the fall season. With the exception of his infrequent scrimmages, the physical audience witnessing his long runs in the back trails, interval training on the local track, and lifting/stretching sessions in the gym is small and they are not paying much attention to our athlete. But what about the other audience? The imagined audience. The audience with greater influence. It is the audience that is always with the athlete, in his head. Always judging and dictating. The mental audience can consist of his oppressive dad whose loud sideline antics were a catalyst for embarrassment, his ex-girlfriend for whom he still has a crush, the seniors on the team who demand perfection because it is their last chance to finally win a championship, his high school friends and classmates who he would like to impress and prove that he is not an impostor, those little kids who come to his games for whom he would like to become a role model, for the unknown incoming freshman who he would like to keep off his heels and prevent from earning his starting spot on the team...
The unseen but always present audience plays a large role in every decision that our athlete makes. The negative judgment is likely to cause workouts to be abandoned or shortened with minimal effort. The condemning comments increases anxiety leading to slow decision making and poor overall play. Conversely, the praise of his imaginary spectators gives rise to confidence leading to maximum effort, extended workouts, and being in the zone during the scrimmages.
Whatever performance you undertake, pay attention to that ever present audience hiding in the crevices of your thinking. A newfound awareness might lead you to the conclusion that your particular audience needs to get kicked out and be replaced with a more supportive and appreciative one. An audience that fills the you with the confidence and the courage to strive to perfect your skill, craft, expertise. Perfect your art.
It's late May and the academic year has recently concluded. The athlete, who will enter his sophomore season, begins to develop an off-season training plan full of weight lifting, long distance running, interval training, strict diet, flexibility exercises, and of course game-like scrimmages. The summer becomes hotter and the days grow longer, which makes adherence to this plan more challenging, but if our athlete sticks with the plan, he will set himself up for success in late summer preseason and throughout the fall season. With the exception of his infrequent scrimmages, the physical audience witnessing his long runs in the back trails, interval training on the local track, and lifting/stretching sessions in the gym is small and they are not paying much attention to our athlete. But what about the other audience? The imagined audience. The audience with greater influence. It is the audience that is always with the athlete, in his head. Always judging and dictating. The mental audience can consist of his oppressive dad whose loud sideline antics were a catalyst for embarrassment, his ex-girlfriend for whom he still has a crush, the seniors on the team who demand perfection because it is their last chance to finally win a championship, his high school friends and classmates who he would like to impress and prove that he is not an impostor, those little kids who come to his games for whom he would like to become a role model, for the unknown incoming freshman who he would like to keep off his heels and prevent from earning his starting spot on the team...
The unseen but always present audience plays a large role in every decision that our athlete makes. The negative judgment is likely to cause workouts to be abandoned or shortened with minimal effort. The condemning comments increases anxiety leading to slow decision making and poor overall play. Conversely, the praise of his imaginary spectators gives rise to confidence leading to maximum effort, extended workouts, and being in the zone during the scrimmages.
Whatever performance you undertake, pay attention to that ever present audience hiding in the crevices of your thinking. A newfound awareness might lead you to the conclusion that your particular audience needs to get kicked out and be replaced with a more supportive and appreciative one. An audience that fills the you with the confidence and the courage to strive to perfect your skill, craft, expertise. Perfect your art.
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