Stage-fright banished by a brisk walk

If the idea of delivering a speech in public makes you toes curl, or if you're a performer who suffers from stage-fright, help is at hand.

Twenty minutes of pumping iron at the gym, or a power-walk in the park, will reduce the jitters and help to improve your performance. However, if a workout isn't your idea of fun, then research indicates that, if you can learn to sort out your brainwaves, you will become more relaxed, less nervous and make fewer mistakes.

The UK Leverhulme Trust has funded a three-year initiative to reduce stage-fright and improve the quality of performances by musicians. The work involves the Royal College of Music with De Montfort University, Imperial College London and the company Sporting Body Mind.

The research uses three approaches: the application of regular exercise; training in the control of brainwaves which can improve relaxation; and training in the mind control and visualisation techniques used by top athletes. Results are available from the first two.

Preliminary results from Prof Adrian Taylor, of De Montfort, have shown that stage-fright in musicians can easily be reduced following a programme of regular exercise. His group induced stagefright by forcing student musicians to perform in front of their peers. This caused a significant rise in heart rate, he said. "The question was, does fitness relate to how people react."

Changes in heart rate were measured both before and after the students underwent a six-week training programme which involved vigorous aerobic exercise. His team found the increase in heart rate was less in the fit students compared to those who had no exercise. "The percentage change in heart-rate was less for those who had been out for a brisk walk in the park," he said.

Prof John Gruzelier, of Imperial College, developed a system that taught students how to control their brainwaves by watching a computer screen image of a boat on water. If they got their brain waves right, the boat moved out to sea. If they didn't, it hit land.

The waves that caused the boat to move away were associated with lower, more inwardly focused levels of attention. The waves causing the boat to crash were associated with increased, more externally focused attention.

The students applied the technique before playing music. Those who learned to control their brainwaves had fewer playing errors and performed better.