Joe Kowan: How I beat stage fright
Joe Kowan: Come ho sconfitto la paura del palcoscenico
By day he's a graphic designer, and by night Joe Kowan is a quirky folk singer-songwriter. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
e anche allora
same house made me uncomfortable.
erano nella stessa casa mi metteva a disagio.
just writing songs wasn't enough.
solo scrivere canzoni non era più sufficiente.
and I wanted to share them with people,
che volevo condividerle con la gente,
e mi iscrissi per suonare,
fino a 10 minuti prima del mio turno,
this wave of anxiety just washed over me.
e mi travolse questa ondata di ansia.
your sympathetic nervous system kicks in.
il sistema nervoso simpatico interviene.
your heart rate increases,
il battito cardiaco aumenta,
to shut down, like digestion. (Laughter)
cominciano a spegnersi. (Risate)
away from your extremities,
il sangue non affluisce più alle estremità,
your Spidey sense tingles,
(Laughter)
(Risate)
to performing folk music.
e ancora non riesce a capire la differenza
the stage, I start my song,
inizio la mia canzone,
comes streaming out.
like an opera singer has,
is clearly uncomfortable,
il pubblico è chiaramente a disagio
as a solo singer-songwriter.
da cantautore.
I had the tiniest little glimpse
vidi di sfuggita quel briciolo
I had to get past this nervousness.
superare l'ansia.
I would go back every week
di tornare ogni settimana
thing happened every week. (Laughter)
ogni settimana. (Risate)
don't have a lot of epiphanies. (Laughter)
perché non ho molte rivelazioni (Risate)
that exploits my nervousness.
una canzone che sfruttasse la mia ansia,
Facile.
sulla paura da palcoscenico.
half-octave higher than normal,
un'ottava più alto del normale,
what was happening to me,
for me because I was nervous,
perché ero nervoso,
uncomfortable family. (Laughter)
(Risate)
by embracing and exploiting my problem,
accettando e sfruttando il mio problema,
that was blocking my progress,
che bloccava il mio progresso,
was essential for my success.
per il mio successo.
me get past that biggest issue
mi permetteva di superare il più grande dei problemi
and play the rest of my songs
e suonare il resto delle canzoni
have to play the stage fright song at all.
la canzone della paura da palcoscenico.
nervous, like now. (Laughter)
(Risate)
stage fright song for you?
you all without clothes. ♫
tutti senza vestiti. ♫
scares me more than anyone knows. ♫
mi spaventa più di quanto pensiate. ♫
non è mai stato il mio punto forte. ♫
so much, you'll be great. ♫
sarai fantastico. ♫
help me when I sing. ♫
a cantare. ♫
these things right now, ♫
di queste cose ora, ♫
you're in the crowd. Hi. ♫
e voi siete nella folla. Ciao. ♫
unnurtured, irrrational fear, ♫
naturale e razionale, ♫
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joe Kowan - Musician and graphic designerBy day he's a graphic designer, and by night Joe Kowan is a quirky folk singer-songwriter.
Why you should listen
Joe Kowan is a Boston-based musician and graphic designer who has been struggling with stage fright since he first started writing songs at age 27. Despite his adorably expressed fears, he charms audiences with his own style of quirky folk and acoustic hip-hop, by turns poignant, salacious and comical. In 2009 he released the gangsta' arts and crafts video for his original song “Crafty,” and in 2011 he was a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition.
Kowan is a senior graphic designer on State Street Global Marketing’s Brand Strategy team. With a BFA in sculpture and design, his work explores diverse areas of design including scenic, print, environmental design and wayfinding.
Joe Kowan | Speaker | TED.com