Though extreme stage fright is a comparatively infrequent phenomenon, the intensification of feeling and stage of ‘arousal’ in anticipation of an audience, or while facing an audience, is a common experience. Most professional performers on stage, radio, television, or public platforms admit to such feelings. We can go back to Cicero and find that even he admitted to turning pale at the outset of speech. Amoung our contemporaries, Winston Churchill admits to an occasional discomfort he described as a feeling of “a nine-inch square block of ice in the pit of stomach”. Fortunately, in most instance, the ice melts away as the performance is pursued, and often exhilaration replaces the initial state of discomfort.

Although professional performers use the term stage fright for their intensified feelings, they are not frightened by either the term or the feelings. In fact, many performers contend that unless they feel somewhat  tense, aroused, or ‘pepped up’, their performances may fall flat. We may quite properly conclude that the internal changes, as well as some of the external; ones that result from the increased flow of adrenaline serve a useful purpose in supplying extra energy and muscle tones necessary for an effective performance.