There are a few common things that help which most people know. Knowing what you are doing, true rehearsal, helps calm nerves. You bore yourself silly in rehearsals so that the actual event seems like just one more time.

Another simple thing is breathing. We tend to forget to breathe when we get anxious. It is common for me to say to friends "BREATHE" anytime they are anxious, whether in performance or in life. When we catch ourselves feeling upset, usually our breathing is out of whack. Breathe in calm energy and breathe out anxiety. Sure it's simple, even sappy to some people, but try it for a little while and see for yourself.

Act calm and you tell your subconsciousness to be calm. You may think, "I am lying, I am not calm" but that doesn't matter. Act calm and your subconscious will soon get the message and start relaxing your mind and body.

Finally, it matters how you label life experience. If you feel "nervous" before a performance, large or small, you are going to be "nervous." However if you feel this feeling and call it what it is, "excitement" or "power", then you will be EXCITED and POWERFUL instead.

Bruce Springsteen has said that he doesn't get "butterflies in his stomach" before a performance. Instead he gets "excited." It's an important difference, and a simple choice.

The truth is you get excited because you want more energy available to you when you perform. It is a natural response. When you need more power available to you, your mind and body naturally begin making it available to you. People wrongly label this as "nerves" because they feel the energy pulsating through their nerves. But this is not "nervousness". Rather it is POWER being made available for your use.

Next time you find yourself feeling power pulsating through you, don't label it poorly. Call it what it is.

"I am making all the power I could ever need available to me now. I am being prepared with all the resources I need at any and every moment during my performance."

Because that's the truth. It's amazing that your subconscious brings all of this available to you without your having to demand it.

The POWER is there automatically. Be in wonder at what your subconscious naturally gives to you so that you can do all that you need in any performance, be it a simple trick for friends or a full stage show. 

You only get "nerves" if you mistake the power for the effect it has on your body. Feel the power pulsating through your nerves and know that you are being completely energized through every nerve and cell of your mind and body. Your subconscious is preparing you to have any and all the resources you need to be truly magical in your performance. It is being sure you have full access to POWER. That's what you are feeling.

How Wonder-FULL is that?