Have you ever tried to practice at your own home karaoke system before your big karaoke night out with friends?

Singing used to be a form of entertainment alone, available to those who were “born with a golden voice”, and to those who love listening to them. However, when the health benefits linked to this activity has been popularized, it is even encouraged for EVERYONE to make singing a hobby.

In fact, movies often show characters singing in the shower or humming while at work to portray how happy the characters were. Better respiration, happiness and stress relief, are among those benefits linked to singing. It is therefore not surprising how singing also helped boost my confidence, and even helped me overcome my stage fright.

My work requires me to engage with colleagues in discussing plans for the company, to give reports, and to lobby ideas through presentations. I don’t have any difficulty preparing for my outputs, however, delivery of such was a challenge to me. Negative self-talk and low self-esteem may have caused the anxiety I get every time I’m about to make a presentation, an occurrence which is commonly known as stage fright. Luckily, this is not a problem for me anymore.
My workmates make it a habit to have a departmental karaoke night at least once a month. It is kind of a team-building habit and a break-from-work activity as well. Surprisingly, among all the things I tried to overcome my stage fright, from cutting my caffeine intake to lots and lots of hydration, it was karaoke which became my stage fright cure. At first, I was merely an audience to most of our karaoke nights, I could not even bear the thought of speaking in front of an audience, so how else could I sing?

Last year, my husband brought home a karaoke system as a Christmas present and it was the start of something new. I tried using the popsical home karaoke device and there was no audience then aside from my patient husband who was supportive enough to endure my not-so-golden-kind of a voice, and the room exploded as a star was born. We sang along that night and made karaoke-at-home, one of our date-night activities. Karaoke nights by our office became different. I emerged from being a mere listener to one of the top performers, we sometimes even have our karaoke nights at my house. As to the delivery of my presentations, stage fright doesn’t bother me anymore.