Deputy President William Ruto hosted youth from different estates in Nairobi at his home in Karen on Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
One of the groups invited included a team of children from The Bahati Foundation in Mathare who had prepared to perform a poem with a message that Kenya was a country of hustlers.
Unfortunately, days of practising the performance did not pay off as their piece was bogged by anxiety which hindered their confidence.
The children struggled to get past the opening line and had to restart the performance for about 4 times.
Some of their minders tried to intervene to help them relax but the situation did not get better despite the cheers from the crowd.
Digital strategist Dennis Itumbi helped them conduct breathing exercises to help the children calm down but the stage fright proved to be too much, perhaps it was the fear of performing for the deputy president.
Stage fright can be described as the nervousness felt by a performer or speaker when appearing before an audience.
Many artists and public speakers experience this fear and have to develop ways of overcoming it.
Musician Anto Neosoul who was a guest performer at the event explained that it was very hard to completely overcome stage fright but managing it can be practised.
"To this day, I still get nervous before I perform but I have learned to deal with it," he intimated.
Oga Obinna who was the event's emcee shared that he tries to relax by making jokes to diffuse the tension.
"Many times, I make sure I crack up my audience to lighten the mood. I also don't talk to anyone a few minutes before I perform," he explained.