Since discussing my research question with my new tutor George in September, I refined it to: “How can shy people with social anxiety relieve their emotions during social interactions?” The problem I had was the lack of expert suggestions from different perspectives. Therefore, I interviewed 11 stage performers during the first week of October and gathered valuable insights on how they manage shyness and anxiety before going on stage.

Here are their answers (The photos of the interviewees are used with their permission)

INTERVIEW DETAILS

These interviews were not only an interesting experience for me but also a learning process. From these professional stage performers, I gained practical ways to manage emotions that are easier for my stakeholders to apply in daily life compared to the professional methods provided by psychologists.

Therefore, I summarized their strategies and created six practical tips:

RESEARCH OUTCOME:

INTERVENTION PREPARATION:

I have created a poster and I am planning to find shy people or those with social anxiety within Central Saint Martins. This is also a challenge for me to find my target stakeholders because I think that people with shyness and social anxiety find it very difficult to take the first step in reaching out to strangers. Additionally, I am considering tracking my new stakeholders one by one. I believe that these tips require a longer period of adaptation and practice from the participants, so the feedback I receive will be more accurate. Relying solely on a group activity may not get effective feedback. If I can successfully get some responses, I will keep in contact with people who respond to me and gather their feedback to evaluate whether my tips help improve their social interactions.