-Question submitted by missingthemisses

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Dannielle Says: 

Oh man. Let me tell you a story about ole bag-a-bones over here (read: me, this is a story about myself). I HATE public speaking (that was the story). I mean HATE IT. Which is so weird bc I love theatre and I love acting and I love improv and I love being on stage and in front of a camera. But like… Get me on a stage by myself just talking to talk or thanking someone and I TELL YOU, my entire body is shivering with fear. 

I dunno what it is that causes it, but I’ll tell you how to get rid of it. You have to literally shiver in fear in front of people 600 times and then one day you’re just like ‘fuck it, i’m done’ and it’s fine. It’s like…when I was beginning to audition for shows I’d be terrified to do a monologue. I did monologues for people for 5 years before I could do an okay job. NOW I’M AWESOME. The reason I’m awesome?? I kept doing it and failing and doing it again. I actually did a monologue with my eyes closed once… WHO AM I?! I was just so scared but I knew if I didn’t do the monologue, I couldn’t be in the show (SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t get in the show…)

You guys, we all have to be okay with the fact that we are going to fail miserably sometimes. We’re not supposed to be great at all the same things, we’re supposed to be great at some stuff and suck at other things. You’re not going to be remembered for the things you’re not good at, you’re going to be remembered for the things that make you great. You’ll be remembered for trying, busting your ass, and getting back up after you’ve fallen off the metaphorical horse 15 times. That’s what makes you awesome.

Kristin Says:

Oh my god. The first time that I ever auditioned for a play, I was so nervous that my knees LITERALLY KNOCKED TOGETHER. That is how hard I was shaking. Everyone could see my legs CLANKING TOGETHER. It was so awful.

Also, before going any further I think we should all collectively imagine Dannielle doing an entire monologue with her eyes closed because…. #hahahaha

Here’s the thing: Sometimes when you stand up in front of people your knees will knock and you will feel VERY embarrassed… sometimes you will forget the words that come next and your whole mind will go COMPLETELY blank (this still happens to me sometimes during school events and it is the scariest feeling in all the world)… and sometimes you will be able to squeak out the right words in the right order.

At this moment, your goal should just be to try. When you stand up there, remember Dannielle with her eyes squeezed shut or me with my knees clanking - and remember that despite how terrified we were, the risks we took led us to a place where we are much more comfortable with speaking to others. If you stand up that first time and forget EVERYTHING —- you should still be proud of yourself. You TRIED. 

Dannielle is absolutely, one million percent correct. Allowing ourselves to take risks is how we grow stronger - even in the cases when those risks don’t end in complete success!

PS: On a more practical level, use notecards and practice at least three times before you stand up in class.