Sarah Marshall

Pre-Performance Routines to Manage Performance Anxiety

There has been extensive research on the benefits of pre-performance routines (PPR) in assisting athletes with self-regulation of arousal, attentional focus and performance expectancy.  Little is known, however, about the use and effectiveness of PPR in the performing arts, despite the fact that performance anxiety can have debilitating effects on performing artists and is acknowledged as a major health risk for these professionals.  Since completing a systematic review of the literature in 2018 to critically evaluate the effectiveness of PPR for performing artists, Sarah has run over 100 workshops in schools, tertiary institutions and conservatoria teaching these skills to students and music teachers.
Main Contribution: The effectiveness of arts-based PPR training will be examined including existing contributions and feedback from workshops.  Conclusion: PPR’s have been found to assist athletes with critical elements for successful self-paced performance including their self-regulation of arousal, attentional focus and performance expectancy. These elements are also critical for high calibre artistic performance. Improved PPR training could assist artists to perform closer to their peak and reduce the associated stress and anxiety.

About Sarah Marshall

Sarah is an AMEB examiner, Singing Teacher and experienced performer who works as a Lecturer in Counselling at the University Of Canberra. She holds bachelor degrees in Psychology and Music and masters degrees in both Counselling and Music Performance. Drawing on evidence-based strategies from performance psychology and peak performance practice, she works with teens and adults to give performing artists cognitive tools that work. Musica Viva regularly employs Sarah to run professional development workshops for teachers. Additionally, she has written a NESA & TQI accredited course for secondary dance, drama and music teachers titled Managing Performance Anxiety for Student Wellbeing

She works regularly in schools such as Sydney Grammar, Kambala and Abbotsleigh as well as tertiary institutions such as Griffith University and Sydney Conservatorium to support performers to manage their inner monologue, overcome anxiety and teach skills that facilitate peak performance when it counts. In her private practice, Sarah works with performing artists to: manage anxiety; develop strong and resilient performance skills; grow or regain performance confidence; overcome onstage trauma; and develop their performance persona. Most recently, she was employed by the National Theatre UK to support the touring cast of the Lehman Trilogy during their Southeast Asian tour.