[NoHo Arts District, CA] – In this month’s Soaring Solo blog by Jessica Lynn Johnson, she talks about “Building Your Confidence as a Solo Artist.”
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” – Dalai Lama
One of the most important elements of being a solo artist is the ability to stand on stage with self-confidence as you tell the audience your story. Audiences are very intuitive and they can often detect when you are feeling nervous or full of self-doubt. Unfortunately, this awareness on the part of the audience can cause them to worry about you, and consequently, be taken out of the journey you are trying to bring them on.
Obviously, this divided experience is not the impact that you wish to have on your audience as a result of your stage presence, or lack thereof. Your desire, as a solo artist, is for the audience to escape their reality, enter into the narrative you have so carefully crafted, and be deeply moved by your solo show.
In order for the audience to trust you enough to become entranced by the world you are creating, they must believe that they are in the calm and capable hands of a secure person.
Believe me, I know from my own personal experience, and from working with hundreds of aspiring solo artists from all over the globe, that acquiring this level of pride is so much easier said than done.
So, how do you exude self-confidence rather than trembling with terror at the notion of sharing the most vulnerable aspects of yourself with friends, family, strangers and critics? Even if your solo show is not autobiographical in nature, you are still performing on stage alone, speaking to an expectant crowd, and tasked with the responsibility of holding their attention for at least an hour.
This is not an easy feat.
Not only that, but wrestling with your self-esteem doesn’t suddenly become an obstacle as you step onto stage for your preview performance. This internal battle will likely begin before you have even written a single word of your solo script. And it could persist, without intervention, throughout every one of your performances (if it doesn’t stop you before then).
Additionally, if you suffer from a deficit of healthy ego, you may find yourself procrastinating, cancelling scheduled time to write and rehearse, falling victim to perfectionism, lacking motivation, ruminating on what could go wrong, and ultimately sabotaging yourself all along the solo theatre path.
This struggle poses a large problem because, as solo artists, we are called to be disciplined, dedicated, honest, raw, brave, evocative, and perfectly imperfect in our writing, rehearsing and performing. This robust combination of attributes takes time and great effort to accumulate.
Considering the clear necessity of cultivating self-assuredness as a solo artist, in today’s blog, I will offer you some tangible tactics that aim to support you in building your confidence as a solo artist
Let’s jump in!
- Do esteemable acts.
To build our self esteem we need to do esteemable acts. Esteemable acts are actions that help to grow your self-esteem and confidence. By taking these actions, you are cultivating a sense of self-respect, self-care, and self-love. When you do things that make you feel good about yourself, your life begins to positively change and so does your ability to create and perform meaningful solo theatre art.
Here are a few esteemable acts that I do frequently to nurture my self-esteem and self-confidence.
a) I spend quality time with my dog, Ruby Peanut. By taking Ruby on walks, I give my own body exercise and enjoy nature on a daily basis. When Ruby and I just lay on the couch and cuddle, I slow down and focus on my breath and relaxing and restoring after a long day of work. Playing with Ruby enables me to be silly and carefree and nurture my inner child.
b) I buy myself flowers every week. I am a romantic at heart, and gifting myself flowers is one of the most loving gestures I can think of to express self-love. I love the aroma, the color and the connection to nature. By giving myself a modest bouquet once a week, I am reminding myself that I am worthy of romance, love, beauty and abundance.
c) I eat yummy vegan food. Most of the time, I cook meals for myself (and for my fiancé when she and I are together). The process of preparing a meal is very meditative for me. I often pour myself a small glass of wine, light a scented candle or two, turn on some relaxing music and let time slow down as all of the ingredients come together. If it has been an exceptionally long day and I am too tired to cook, I’ll still make sure to feed myself and throw a vegan pizza in the oven or order in. Nourishing my body is non-negotiable.
Now that you have hopefully gotten a sense of what esteemable acts can look like, let’s explore another means of growing your self-confidence.
- Take contrary action.
Strengthening our self-confidence often involves taking contrary action. Contrary action is when you intentionally choose to do something positive that is the opposite of the negative thing that your impulses tell you to do. This is an opportunity to conquer our self-sabotage, which is the enemy of confidence building. Our natural urges can often be rooted in limited or negative beliefs. This is what leads us to procrastinate, stay busy with things that are not as deeply meaningful to us as creating a solo show, drink or drug ourselves into numbness, act out in damaging ways, or simply distract ourselves with social media. Therefore, in order for you to break these negative patterns, you must deliberately engage in actions that are in direct opposition to those patterns, even and especially when you do not feel like it.
These are some samples of my own contrary actions.
- I wake up early when I would rather sleep in. Regardless of if I stayed up too late the night before or not, I make myself get up early every single weekday. I know that in order for me to fit in journaling, yoga, prayer, meditation and a support group meeting, all before I begin working with clients each morning, I must get up on time. It’s rarely what my tired body and mind want to do, but I know it’s what my soul needs me to do.
- I reach out for support when I am struggling emotionally, when I would rather be isolated. My innate response to emotional unrest would be to isolate and zone out on instagram looking at cute dog videos. This keeps me from actually feeling and processing my emotions. However, I am trying to learn to take the contrary action of feeling my feelings and reaching out to my partner, my friends, my family and other members of my support system if I am having a hard moment.
- I socialize and expand my friend network when I would rather stay home and go to bed early. As a business owner, dog and cat mom, and loving fiancé, my life is already very full with responsibilities and important scheduled events on the calendar. At the end of the day, sometimes I just want to crash on the couch and go to bed early. However, I am very aware that without a robust social network of friends to enjoy life and experiences with, I am not accessing the fullness of myself and can become prone to workaholism. That said, even when I have had a long day, I will often make myself jump on a virtual event or drive in traffic to attend something in person in order to foster new platonic relationships to enrich my life.
You may be struggling to see how the enforcement of esteemable acts and contrary actions will lead to confidence and solo theatre success. While it may not seem that there is a direct correlation, every single effort we make to engage in self-care and self-discipline directly benefits our journey as solo artists. All of these choices will contribute to you loving yourself more and feeling more sure of yourself. Both of these attributes are crucial to becoming a confident solo artist.
Below are some traps of self sabotage that I often witness as a solo theatre coach. These are things that harm your self-confidence and your creative process. Fear not though, I will also provide ideas that capture the spirit of esteemable acts and contrary action to support you in your creative ambitions.
- When you don’t feel like writing and feel blocked, visit my YouTube channel and watch any of my free videos offering writing prompts and make yourself put pen to page or fingers to keyboard. First, there’s “Freewrite Friday” which just takes 15 minutes and will help you produce content. Click HERE for that Youtube playlist. I also have a series of guided meditations and visualizations meant to elicit inspired writing. Click HERE for that Youtube playlist.
- When you are tempted to work alone on your solo show and stay isolated in your creative cave, challenge yourself to involve other people in your process. While it is vital to have some time alone to write and review your writing, it is equally essential to have outside ears and eyes on your script, and your performance technique. It is also critical that you have support and inspiration. Whether it’s with Soaring Solo Studios or another creative community that you resonate with, be sure that you do not try to go it alone. It may be a one-person show, but it takes a village to bring it to fruition.
- When you have plans to do a rehearsal with your director, a solo show class with a skilled teacher or simply to sit down by yourself to write your script and you feel like cancelling, instead force yourself to keep your commitments. The only way to deepen your trust in yourself and be reliable to yourself and others, you must keep the commitments you make. You won’t always feel like it, but the act of showing up anyway is a powerful gesture of belief in self.
I could certainly go on, as examples of self-sabotage are unfortunately quite limitless, but I am sure you can see yourself, to some degree, in the examples that I have illustrated in today’s blog.
That being said, I implore you to reflect upon these acts of self-sabotage versus esteemable acts and contrary actions to identify the way you are working for or against your sense of self-confidence and how this helps or hinders your solo theatre goals.
Please continue to persist along on your solo journey. It may not be easy, but it is so worth it!
Jessica Lynn Johnson
Founder & CEO of Soaring Solo LLC
SoaringSoloArtist@gmail.com
www.SoaringSoloStudios.com
Enjoy these Solo Theatre Resources to Further Guide You on Your Solo Journey!
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Award-winning director and developer Jessica Lynn Johnson hosts a slew of powerful solo show script readings and full staged productions addressing various impactful and inspiring topics.
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Start Writing Your Own Solo Show One Freewrite at a Time With “FREEWrite Friday”!
Join BEST NATIONAL SOLO ARTIST WINNER Jessica Lynn Johnson for FREEWrite Friday!
Utilizing thought-provoking writing prompts, Jessica will lead you in writing exercises that are sure to assist you in the development of your solo show.
A one-person play is not typically written in one fell swoop. Rather, the Soaring Solo Methodology teaches that the creation of solo art is much like that of creating a Mosaic…one beautiful piece at a time.
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Jessica brings her 15+ years of solo theatre expertise to work privately with solo artists from all over the world on an as needed basis.
A 1 on 1 Consultation is for you if…
-You are curious about creating a solo show, but you need writing prompts to help you generate material.
– You are tossing around ideas for your solo show, but you need some accountability and encouragement to commit those ideas to the page.
-You have already written some material, but you need expert feedback on editing, story structure and play formatting.
-You have a great first draft, but need guidance on how to utilize multimedia and solo theatre technique in order to make your show a dynamic piece of solo theatre.
-You already premiered your solo show and now you want some tips on how to tour colleges and festivals, and garner accolades and great reviews!
-You have heard great things about Jessica’s work and you’re curious about hiring her as a Director & Developer for your solo show, but first, you want to feel her out and see if she is the right fit for you and your project.
Wherever you may find yourself on your solo journey, Jessica will help you overcome whatever immediate obstacle stands between you and your solo success.
If you resonate with many of the things on this list, then take the next step by emailing SoaringSoloArtist@gmail.com for more information.