I am an international pianist and vocal coach. For over thirty five years I have given workshops and master-classes in presentation interpretation and speaking techniques. My experience whilst performing on stage in front of audiences was one of often battling with stage nerves, leading directly to my quest to access the Zone state of mind. This mind training is the core of my consultancy work at Zone In: Presentation Success, and this is my story!

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I started playing the piano when I was nine years old and without specialised training, found myself at seventeen, in a top UK conservatoire amongst super talented musicians. 

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So began my personal struggle with stage nerves. Having graduated with honours, I travelled to Germany for four years of extended study whilst battling on, still trying to find some effective techniques to help manage my pre-performance nerves.

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My release from presentation and performance anxiety occurred in a spectacular and unexpected way. Before a key performance in Los Angeles, whilst waiting in the wings the familiar butterflies had set in. As the footlights went up, and as I made my way to the piano,  clarity came over me that I had never experienced before. It was as if, the only thing that mattered at that moment was the task at hand. 

 

Feeling completely free of any expectations of the audience and unaware of the concert hall, filled with three thousand people, I was in the Zone state of mind, alert and singularly focused, living completely in the moment. As applause rang out, I left the stage, quietly euphoric to have at last accessed the ultimate in complete focus. It was the turning point in my career as a pianist and coach and I continue on that path to this day.

 

Fast forward a decade or so, I realise that the Zone performance technique is an essential skill, that can be used to help others battling with stage and presentation nerves. 

 

Want to know more ? Call me on +(44)7825333987  or email me