The line before the stage is scarier than the stage. Once you’re up there, you’re just busy.

Anticipation has nothing to do but generate fear. Once you are actually performing, attention goes to the task, and there is no spare capacity left for dread. The peak of the discomfort is almost always in the waiting, which is why shortening the wait helps more than preparing longer.

Arrange things so you go early rather than last where you can. While you wait, give your hands something to do and your mind something concrete to run through. Remember that the worst minute is the one before, and it ends the moment you start.