The Importance of Resilience on Stage
Manage episode 488969962 series 3665988
What happens when disaster strikes right before your big performance? Dr. Angelia Williams shares a riveting story of having to find a replacement sound engineer with just 45 minutes to spare before a major show—and how the audience never knew anything went wrong.
This fascinating conversation between Dr. Williams and Dr. Mary Ann Markey explores the critical distinction between excellence and perfection in performance. Excellence, they argue, isn't about flawlessness but rather delivering skilled, mature performances while maintaining resilience when inevitable mistakes occur. The golden rule they emphasize for all performers: when something goes wrong, don't stop.
The hosts dive deep into the psychology of performance resilience, revealing why your reaction to mistakes matters far more than the mistakes themselves. Through compelling personal stories—including one about a piano falling during Rhapsody in Blue—they illustrate how professionals maintain composure under extreme pressure. Most importantly, they explain why performers consistently overestimate what audiences notice, creating unnecessary psychological burdens that can be shed with the right mindset.
Whether you're a musician, public speaker, athlete, or business professional, this episode offers transformative insights into building performance resilience. The practical strategies discussed will help you maintain poise when facing unexpected challenges, make split-second decisions under pressure, and continue delivering excellence even when perfection isn't possible. Ready to transform your approach to performance? Listen now and discover how to perform with confidence even when everything seems to be going wrong.
Chapters
1. Welcome to Performance Mindset Institute (00:00:00)
2. Excellence vs Perfection (00:00:51)
3. The Rule: Never Stop When Mistakes Happen (00:01:36)
4. Crisis Management: The Missing Sound Engineer (00:03:09)
5. The Audience Never Knows (00:05:46)
6. Maintaining Poise Through Challenges (00:07:38)
3 episodes