Stage fright: something that plagues so many Americans on a regular basis. Some people are bothered to the point where they go out of their way to avoid situations where they have to speak in public. Well, Dr David Lee Fish works to confront the problem head-on in his book Goodbye Butterflies. Using a Zen approach, he offers a 5-day program to work through the anxiety public speaking causes. Instead of trying to eliminate the anxiety completely, Fish has created a process to keep the anxiety from being a debilitating force that is unmanageable.

I like most of the material offered in this book. This step-by-step guide makes stage fright anxiety something that can be managed. It gives you a very clear goal for day 5 and uses day 1-4 to work on smaller steps so that by day 5 you are ready to be able to manage your anxiety for that presentation (or whatever your day 5 stage-fright event may be). The one big problem I had with this book was the formatting. It felt very problematic. Some of the material was repeated 4 or 5 times, to the point where it felt like the redundancies should at the very least be addressed. "As we spoke about in chapter three..." or "for more information, see page 22." Also, the book seems to end, and then another few chapters come after. So the content is good, but the formatting could use work.

May not work for everyone, but offers practical advice and suggestions for accepting and working through stage fright, using allegories and step-by-step processes. Written in an accessible style for professional speakers, musicians, and actors, as well as anyone who has to speak in class or give a presentation.

I started practicing mindfulness one year ago, and rapidly realizing the benefits it provided in many aspects of my life. I hadn't thought up to now how it could help with public speaking. This book provides a very actionable plan for me to try before my next important speech.
I am not really sure if someone never introduced to mindfulness meditation before can obtain real benefits just using this book as a guide, but I would not be surprised if he does.

As a member of Toastmasters International, I read this book to see if it could complement my public speaking jitters. It was a great read and did just that. Dr. Fish's book is original, accessible, and practical. His precise program helped me feel less nervous about getting up to talk in front of a group. I also enjoyed reading about celebrities who have struggled with stage fright. I will recommend "Goodbye Butterflies" to my Toastmasters district and beyond!

According to a stat in this book, about 3 out of 4 professional orchestra musicians get stage fright. So do a lot of famous actors, with some of the names mentioned pretty hard to believe.
The book uses a lot of ideas common in self-help stuff, applying them to a new problem. I admit I wouldn’t have thought of it working here, but it’s a new application rather than an original idea. Most of all it’s based on the idea of mindfulness, which is such a huge buzzword nowadays, but it takes a while to apply it specifically to stage fright. The author comes back to it so often it feels like that’s more what this book is about, rather than stage fright.
After the first half of the book there’s exercises, a list of common values (for an earlier exercise), and self-described bonus content, though this part feels like more of the actual book. There’s a chapter on famous people getting stage fright, which helps in the commiseration aspect. It would have been more interesting had the fact the author was an accomplished saxophonist been included at the beginning and not the end.

Dr. Fish has written an intriguing guide to help those who suffer from jitters, heart palpitations, stage fright and the like when speaking or performing in front of an audience.
It's easier than you may have thought. By utilizing the authors 5-day solution to overcoming state fright, readers of this book and accompanying workbook will, not only, find strength in the aspects of his READ technique but also in the Mindfulness exercises he has provided.
You see, Dr. Fish, a student of Zen for many years, applied its calming concepts to himself, his students at Catawba College and, now, all those who have been looking for an answer to stage fright but have been unsuccessful.
Beyond the workbook, the author has also includes Bonus Content which "will enrich your understanding of stage fright and the mindful answer to it." The reader will be reminded that he/she doesn't suffer alone.
At times, the information in the book seems a bit repetitive but overall well worth the time to gain a new perspective on ways to deal with an annoying and frustrating problem.