I think there is a lot of very good advice here. I used to suffer so much from stage fright that I quit playing in public for many years, because I simply did not enjoy it, but I picked it up again and now I enjoy it quite a bit (though not without some anxiety).''
So here is the best advice I can give: practice until the songs become internalized and you don't have to worry about the basic functions—the playing and singing. I always practice standing up with a mike and amplifier because that is almost always the situation in which I perform. I find now that I sound better when I have an audience than when I am practicing. Performing for an audience is a different skill set than just playing or singing. Just practice as much as you can, with a set list that you are entirely comfortable with.
I would also say that almost everybody is more critical of themselves than the audience is so you have to find a way to kind of push past that. When a mistake is made or lyric forgotten or misspoken, never apologize or make a big deal about it, just push on through. They don't care and they probably didn't notice unless they are a guitar player themselves.
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