During today’s conversation, we interview vocal and performance coach, Per Bristow and hear his philosophy on life and performance. Tune in to hear why the pressure is greater, the more talented you are, why understanding your psychology is pertinent to beating stage fright, and how the most dangerous thing about stress is our negative perception of it. Per doesn’t advocate avoiding fear, but rather urges listeners to embrace it, in order to empower themselves to do something about it. He believes that the principles he teaches in voice training should be applied to all areas of life, and encourages listeners to embrace spontaneity and aliveness over having a plan and being so attached to an outcome. His advice to people heading to the stage is to embrace and expect nervousness and allow it to show us that we are taking part in a special moment. Next, we get into the technicalities of voice training and Per shares the story of how he learned that anyone can improve their vocal abilities dramatically, the same way that you can build muscle. You’ll hear all about Per’s philosophy on developing the voice, embracing your accent, and why folks who stutter do so far less when they sing. We touch on sleep, hydration, caffeine, and more. We hope you join us for a jam-packed episode with today’s inspiring guest!

Key Points From This Episode:

How Andrés was introduced to Per Bristow through a video of him dancing.
Why the pressure is greater, the more talented you are.
Per’s message for people with stage fright: understand your psychology.
How the most dangerous thing about stress is our negative perception of it.
Why you have to experience and embrace fear to do something about it.
What it means to train yourself in order to get into the present moment.
The power of embracing fear to become alert, focused, and in the moment.
Per’s philosophy in voice training, that you should be able to implement what you learn for performance in all other areas of life.
Why a plan is wonderful, but spontaneity and aliveness is where life really is.
How most people want a specific outcome, but the process is the most important thing.
The power of embracing and expecting nervousness to show us that it is a special moment.
Why you should give yourself permission in order to be free.
How to evaluate what an embarrassment is and embrace spontaneity.
Making yourself vulnerable and foolish as a tool to make other people comfortable.
Per’s relationship with introversion and how this has nothing to do with performing.
The story of how Per learned that you can improve your vocal abilities dramatically.
Why Per prefers the term ‘influence’ to ‘control’ when it comes to developing the voice.
How singing is one of the most fearful activities, but one of the most powerful activities.
His belief that singing is about the energy that you release when you make sounds.
Why trying to hide your accent only makes it more significant.
Advice for people who don’t want to speak because they have a stutter: do Per’s training.
Why Per has decided not to drink coffee: in rebellion to the norm, as a health freak.
The reason Per is an effective coach: he is good at learning and can help others to learn.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Per Bristow
Per Bristow on Instagram
Per Bristow on Twitter
Making Stress Your Friend
Andrés Preschel

Support the show

GO Swift Yourself | CR 202