Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [119]
Some performers have favorite preshow pick-me-ups. They include a slice of lemon to cleanse the vocal cords, herbal tea with perhaps honey and lemon, fruit, yogurt, pasta, or granola.
The public person has to remember to drink enough water to avoid dehydration. Normal sources of water are often not a part of public life. Try to sip water all day and take a drink every time you pass a water fountain. Don’t substitute soft drinks, beer, coffee, or tea for the water that you need. When traveling, devise ways to constantly replenish your water intake. One way to do this is to carry small bottles of mineral water with you wherever you go.
Caffeine can constrict the blood vessels. Since it is found in soft drinks, coffee, tea, and even chocolate, you should avoid these as much as possible. Consuming several cups of coffee, particularly if combined with nicotine and alcohol, is not a good idea just before your public appearance.
Alcohol is a depressant that is metabolized at roughly one drink per hour, depending on your body weight, how much you’ve eaten, and other factors. (A glass of wine, a beer, and a normal-size mixed drink all contain a roughly equivalent amount of alcohol.) The effects of alcohol are enhanced under hot lights or in a hot room. Alcohol impairs your ability to regulate your internal temperature; one drink before you speak under certain circumstances may carry the jolt of two or three. Beer really does not cool you down, because you cannot get enough liquid volume to regulate your body temperature.
In short, the public person should consider carefully before drinking alcohol either before or during a public appearance. Certainly, a public person’s reputation can be ruined by even one episode of being, or even appearing to be, inebriated in public.
STRESS
As a public person, you are certain to find yourself in stressful situations; they go with the territory. Most certainly, you will at times encounter circumstances which demand more than you feel capable of dealing with. You have to expect them and learn ways to control stress.
Many good books exist that deal with the subject of handling stress, and it is not my intention here to write in great detail about what has been so well covered elsewhere. I simply want to point out some of the ways that stress can particularly impact on the public person.
Many famous people are felled by heart attacks and illness that may be indirectly related to stress. Others suffer through personal tragedies related to a stressful life-style. Still others develop mental disorders or abuse drugs or alcohol in response to the particular stresses of public life.
Negative stress can take its toll on your immune system, making you vulnerable to colds and infections. Excessive stress places an added load on your heart and blood vessels. It can affect your sleep patterns, sexual function, and physical stamina.
Some people experience a decline in personal productivity, possibly endangering their careers and upward mobility. Too much prolonged stress can lead to burnout, which can have long-range consequences.
Learn to gauge when you are functioning at the peak of your abilities. Recognize the signals that tell you you need to cope with stress. If you feel depressed, alienated, defensive, always tired, short-tempered, or frustrated, do something to reverse the pattern.
Recognize the problems caused by an overloaded schedule. Be aware of your own limitations, and set boundaries on taking further responsibilities beyond which you will not go. Delegate trivial tasks to someone else and save yourself for the important things. Divide such tasks into manageable segments, which can then be accomplished one at a time.
Devise your own time-management plan, making a daily list of priorities and anticipating your deadlines.
If possible, try to surround yourself with support people who understand that you must face stressful situations. They should be professional, considerate,