Page 137 - How to Shine on Stage

passes key (meta)cognitive and motivational processes and strategies that
pave the way for changes in becoming a successful performer. Finally, we
highlight the crucial role of parents and teachers in encouraging a child
on their musical path.
In the following part, we focus on the direct factors influencing the
success of musical performance. Initially, we focused our attention to
the direct influence of the audience. We found that the size and formal-
ity of the audience impact the performance’s success. The influence of
these two factors, however, is indirect; they directly stimulate pre- perfor- 135
mance excitement, which then affects performance success. The larger
the audience and the more formal the performance circumstances, the
greater the pre- performance excitement and the lower the performance
success. On the other hand, audience size can also act as a facilitator of
performance success, as seen in larger concerts where a collective flow is
generated within the large social group of listeners, which transfers be-
tween the performers on stage and the audience.
In addition to the influence of the audience, we dedicate attention in
this part to the physical, emotional, and cognitive regulation of pre- per-
formance sensations in performers. It is necessary to note that all regula-
tion strategies involve a blend of different levels, but we categorize them
into three major groups based on the focus of each strategy. Further-
more, we emphasize that these are by no means all the pre- performance
self-regulation strategies; rather, we present those most commonly prac-
tised in psychological performance preparation in the Slovenian context.
Thus, in strategies for regulating physical symptoms, we focus on pro-
gressive muscle relaxation, the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais
method, and the BMC method. Their essence lies in optimal body po-
sitioning during musical performance and establishing optimal muscle
tone. This is followed by emotion regulation strategies, where we high-
light various breathing techniques as the most commonly used and ef-
fective among musicians. We also introduce some techniques derived
from cognitive-behavioural therapy, including cognitive reappraisal of
pre- performance emotions, self-soothing, attention control in relation
to emotions, emotional regulation therapy, emotional catharsis tech-
nique, goal setting strategies related to pre- performance emotions, and
emotion regulation strategies based on the IZOF model. The essence
of pre- performance emotion regulation strategies is to first accept that
performance evokes a range of mixed emotions, with the most impor-
tant aspect being our ability to regulate their intensity and transform
them into interpretive quality of performance. It is important to keep
our emotions in check so that they do not overwhelm us but are also