How do I stop being so nervous?

Don’t do the whole “imagine they were naked” thing. It dosent work (especially with your mother :))Practice doing your card tricks in front of the mirrior then slowly increace the number of people you preform in front of etc. After a while you should feel comfortable performing in public.

I forgot to mention I got really nervous just performing in front of one person. :( He was my friend too, but I was just so afraid of messing it up and then looking stupid, I guess.

If you think you’ll mess up you probally will.
Take a page from Nike and “just do it” :)

Its clear that you love doing card tricks and if you feel that you’d like to perform card tricks in front of people, then you should do it! People won’t hate you for making a mistake. Hmm… smiling and breathing helps too i think. According my big sis I say stupid things all the time. So stupidity appears to be very amusing but in the end I’m still smiling because I like people being happy. :D

practice in front of a mirror, maybe???? or in front of your dog or cat??

I like rocks. Put a nice calming stone in your pocket. left hand or side.

I have suffered from the same thing for many years so maybe my advice would be helpful here. I tried all the “tricks” myself as well such as deep breaths, thinking of everyone else naked, etc. I suffered from this severe type of panic to the point where I would freeze and even pass out. I tried counseling, that didn’t work. Try seeing a doctor about this condition, Paxil really helped me with this. Not every medication works for the same person so do not get discouraged if a certain medication does not work for you, you will not see immediate results with these pills either (they take time to work). A doctor may give you something like Xanax, Valium or Clonapin to hold you over until the SSRI that is prescibed to you starts to “kick in”. Hope this helped.

You need to think that you’re the best person from for this purpose. When I feel nervous I always say this in my mind “I’m the best! Yeah I’m the best! I will show them all what I got! Time for them to witness my power!”

Most of the time the ‘feeling of competition’ takes away my nervousness. I just won’t lose,I’m thinking more about how to kill others,torn apart other competitors rather than think about nervousness.

I have this nervousness before performing in front of a croud, or even two people, no matter if what i’m supposed to do is the simplest and most familiar task…
I can’t make it stop with reason, there is a desperate need to be perfect, and a fear I wouldn’t be, deeply rooted in my childhood experiences that manifests it. It’s not going away.

What does work, is to stop stopping it!: I don’t expect it not to be, I just know it is coming, and I do what I have to do along with it, not bussy in it having to go away.

Sometimes I will share my feeling with the ‘croud’, and say something like “I am a bit/very nervous to be on this stage and blah blah..” this really helps it relieves a lot of the pressure, it takes away the need to be perfect, I’ve already exposed my imperfection. Usually it brings the people closer to me: they are human too, the ice is broken, we are at eye level and every one gets to be comfortable with them selfs

You may be having a mild form of anxiety attack. See your physician and get him/her to recommend a treatment.

The first step is to breathe. Take a few deep breaths. Remember, you’re giving something to people, be it entertainment or information. They want what you’re offering, or else they wouldn’t be there. They are on your side. They are not above you as judges.

There’s an organization called Toastmasters—and I’m sure there are others—that might do you some good. Many of the above tips are good, but the thing you need to do is interact with and perform in front of other people who have the same issue about nerves as you do—which is what Toastmasters gives you the chance to do. I know several people who have gone through the program and swear by it.

I also suffer from being EXTREMELY nervous, how I get through it is try to use my sense of humor to make people laugh, it makes me less nervous. Before I present a big project or something I just take a few deep breaths, drink some water and try not to over think what i’m going to say or do up there, just do it :D

Forget “you”. When you’re performing, it’s not “you” people are paying attention to, it’s the performance. By accepting this fully, you can let “yourself” go. That’s what improv teaches as well, and along with Toastmasters, I’d suggest improv classes, if there’s any where you are.

Notice when you watch a great actor in a film or on stage, you don’t see “Meryl Streep” or “Peter Sellers” until the performance is done. “They” disappear. The performance is all, and not the performer.

Thanks everybody. I’m still doing tricks and I’m going to take a lot of your advice. :)