History Main / PerformanceAnxiety

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': Syril Karn obviously thinks himself some kind of heroic dedicated cop and leader, but he's a nervous and awkward public speaker. His attempt at a RousingSpeech to the team he's taking to arrest Cassian falls flat.
-->'''Karn:''' There comes a time when the... the risk of doing nothing becomes the greatest risk of all. This is one of those decisive moments, and I can't imagine a team I'd rather share it with than all of you. There's no room for doubt on the path to... success. And, uh, justice.

* The Smoke Knight Malek from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' is generally quite good at his job but starts having trouble when working with someone since he's used to working alone and it makes him nervous which [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160509 leads to potentially fatal mistakes:]]

Usually, once under pressure, the character is unable to perform at all, looking like a complete idiot [[DeerInTheHeadlights as they stand there unable to do what others are asking them to do]]. Other times, it has a more mild effect, causing them to simply make stupid mistakes that they wouldn't any other time.

* ''Film/{{Luther}}'': Shortly after his ordination as a priest Martin celebrates a Mass in front of his monastic community, father, and other dignitaries. He is shaking with anxiety and some of the wine spills out of the cup as a result.

* One of the superheroes in ''Film/MysteryMen'' has the power to become invisible -- but only when nobody is looking.

* Carina from ''VideoGame/DetectivePikachu'' is a violinist who is going to perform on television. She's new to playing professionally and mentions being nervous about being in the spotlight.

* This was the original reason why [=SpongeBob=] from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption kept failing to get his boating license]]. The first couple episodes it was shown, it was stress that made [=SpongeBob=] freak out and crash into everything. Then it became a case of DependingOnTheWriter, where his driving skills would vary according to [[RuleOfFunny how the scene could best be formatted]], and when he drove well, there'd be a decent justification for his confidence boost. Then {{Flanderization}} and SeasonalRot hit, and the reason was completely forgotten, and that [=SpongeBob=] would just [[DiabolusExMachina inexplicably]] turn into a [[LaughingMad crazy]], [[DrivesLikeCrazy senseless]] PersonOfMassDestruction behind a wheel, no matter the situation. Another episode has [=SpongeBob=] suddenly develop a fear of public speaking when he has to give an oral report in boating school.

* Creator/DaveBautista admitted to have suffered from an acute fear of public speaking this during his earlier days of wrestling as {{Wrestling/Batista}}. According to him, this fear would show in his eyes, and was the reason why he wore CoolShades while delivering his promos.

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'', in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheCauldron'', one of Asterix and Obelix' attempts to raise the money they need is to try their luck at performing in a theater. Unfortunately, Obelix is hit by a massive case of stage fright; his face turns pale, he starts sweating, and can only stare at the audience with open mouth. When he finally does manage to say something, it's his catchphrase ''"These Romans are crazy"'', angering the Roman audience.

* ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart'': Upon getting 2nd place in his grades' finals, Kyōtarō Ichikawa is chosen congratulatory address for the school’s farewell ceremony (Also, no one else was willing to do it). He reluctantly agrees to do the rehearsal, but he whispers so quietly that the crowd couldn’t hear him from ''the mic''. He tries to use that as an excuse to drop out of the official speech, but Yamada encourages him and helps him practice. [[spoiler: Overhearing Nanjou dropping by near them and seriously confessing that he likes Yamada is what convinces and motivates Ichikawa to do the speech.]]

* A children's book about a boy getting the lead role in the school performance of RobinHood brings this up. "The more mistakes I made, the more nervous I got. The more nervous I got, the more mistakes I made." It gets so bad that he ends up mixing up words; when the script reads "Listen to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrels_(chocolate) minstrel]]", he comes onstage and announces "Listen to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties Smartie]]!"

* Haruka Harano of ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' suffers from this in ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars: Spring Carnival'' - she can sing by herself pretty well, but in a crowd, it's just a bunch of frightened warbles. It takes being put in a DarkestHour moment to overcome that fear.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightmareHouse'' points out that [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Lola Loud]] actually isn't afraid of going onstage, but most little girls are.

* Ron Weasley has this problem in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix five]] and [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince six]]. He's a good Keeper when no one is looking, but he gets too nervous to play when people are watching him play.

* The Great And Powerful Turtle in ''Literature/WildCards'' suffers from this when using his telekinetic powers. This gets in the way of his desire to be a superhero until he gets access to some military surplus battleship armor and a scrap Volkswagen Beetle.
* In ''Literature/LonelyWerewolfGirl'' one of the biggest problems Dominil has acting as manager for werewolf punk-rockers Beauty and Delicious is preventing them from getting completely drunk due to their stage fright. Yep, werewolves with stage fright.

* A children's book about a boy getting the lead role in the school performance of RobinHood brings this up. "The more mistakes I made, the more nervous I got. The more nervous I got, the more mistakes I made." It gets so bad that he ends up mixing up words; when the script reads "Listen to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrels_(chocolate) minstrel]]", he comes onstage and announces "Listen to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties Smartie]]!"
* "Literature/RandysDandyLions" is a children's book written by Creator/BillPeet that features a troop of performing lions that suffer from what the book refers to as 'cage fright.' This results in the firing of their trainer and the hiring of a new one. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck This does not end well.]]

* Fat Charlie, the protagonist of ''Literature/AnansiBoys'' suffers from a seriously bad case of Performance Anxiety that leaves him basically incapable of singing in front of other people. It's a shame, really, since he's actually a phenomenal singer with a real love for music ([[spoiler: and he has an unknown affinity with [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] MagicMusic due to being the son of Anansi]]) , but whenever he gets in front of a crowd, he just freezes from sheer nerves and runs the risk of [[StressVomit just puking all over himself]]. Conquering his fears of embarrassing himself and preforming in front of others is an important part of his CharacterDevelopment. [[spoiler:By the end of the story, Charlie realizes that he loves preforming and music and becomes a singer. His old stage-fright never truly went away, he just knows he can always overcome it once he starts singing.]]
* Justine from ''Literature/YouLookDifferentInRealLife'' gave up guitar when she was thirteen after a recital in which she couldn't play a song even though she knew it by heart.
* ''Literature/GetAGripVivyCohen'': Vivy has mastered her knuckleball playing with her brother Nate, but she does really badly the first time she practices with the Flying Squirrels, then keeps messing up during her first real game. Major League pitcher VJ Capello has a similar problem - his performance has been underwhelming since he botched a throw in last year's World Series.