Note: I wrote this about 10 years ago when I was consulting more than teaching, but the gist applies. Performance anxiety, or stage fright, is a common experience for people who perform or speak publicly. When I was an opera singer people would often tell me I seemed calm and relaxed. I wasn’t! I was always nervous before performances – even more so before auditions. My heart would beat fast, my breathing would be fast and shallow, and sometimes my legs would even shake. Stage fright was a fact of life for me, so I had to develop ways to cope with it. Now, many years later, I speak instead of sing for a living. It is not exactly the same – instead of singing…