Short Courses & Events / Archive

‘Disarming’ Performance Anxiety: Re-engaging the joy of performing by becoming more resilient in our innate vulnerability

Tuesday 29th October 2024, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (London Time)

Dr Mark Seton's overview:

Performance anxiety is a complex and potentially confusing label often used to give meaning to a diverse range of bodily experiences and cognitive beliefs that inhibit our capacity to perform in an optimal manner. However, through my research and coaching on vulnerability and actor wellbeing, I have found that we can reduce the effects of performance anxiety when we choose to move consciously towards greater competency in technique, deeper connection with the audience and vulnerable pleasure in our craft.

In this workshop, I will offer practical, playful and holistic strategies to ‘dis-arm’ three factors of being human that can impact our capacity to perform: doubt, shame and trauma. Firstly, through an awareness of body data, body knowledge and body wisdom, we’ll identify energetic preferences in performers that may undermine performance potential. Secondly, we’ll explore playful ways to allow the body to give ‘voice’ to how it may hold tension and need to find release. Thirdly, we’ll invite both storytelling and playfulness to process moments of past shaming that still disempower us. Overall, I will guide us through three resilient vulnerability phases I have identified – presence, perception and play – that can give us all agency AND connection for optimal performing that brings us joy.

Dr Mark Seton

Dr Mark Seton is an Honorary Research Associate (Department of Performance Studies) at the University of Sydney. He lectures in screen performance and drama at Excelsia College.

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Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

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Sorry, this is an archived short course...

We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

Trauma-Informed Voice Professional Certificate with Dr Elisa Monti
Thursday 1st May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 8th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 15th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 22nd May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 29th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Trauma-Informed Voice Professional Certificate with Dr Elisa Monti

Dr Elisa Monti

This five-part certificate course is designed to help participants learn the theory and practice of trauma-informed approaches. The concepts and activities included are tailored to meet the needs of voice specialists who want to acquire more specific tools to navigate the space with their students and colleagues.

Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature
Tuesday 6th May 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)

Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature

Catherine Brown

Despite strong interest, only a handful of peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between mindfulness and voice. Emerging research indicates that mindfulness can help voice users learn to respond to stress more effectively and may help them manage performance anxiety. In this course, we will examine several types of peer-reviewed literature: a) mindfulness studies that indirectly relate to voice work. b) We will review research that examines mindfulness as it relates to voice-adjacent fields (e.g., music performance anxiety and stammering/stuttering). c) We will look at the few published studies that have directly investigated the relationship between mindfulness and voice and d) we will examine directions for future qualitative and quantitative research.

Acceptance & Commitment Coaching for Beginners: An Overview and Guide for Using it to Address Common Performance-Related Problems of a Psychological Nature (3-part course)
Tuesday 6th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday 7th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Friday 9th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
(London Time)

Acceptance & Commitment Coaching for Beginners: An Overview and Guide for Using it to Address Common Performance-Related Problems of a Psychological Nature (3-part course)

Dr David Juncos

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Coaching (ACT) is an empirically-supported psychotherapy & coaching intervention for a variety of common issues facing student and professional musicians from across the world. Some of these include performance anxiety, perfectionism & self-criticism, procrastination, and work-related stress & burnout.