Photo by Tim Coburn

In this new series of CAS Conversations, we’re sitting down with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to dive into their unique insights, experiences, and ideas. From classroom innovations and personal stories to community impact, CAS Conversations offers fresh perspectives from the incredible people shaping our campus and beyond.

In a world where performance anxiety can creep up on even the most seasoned speakers and performers, American University Performing Arts Instructor Jennifer Hamady offers hope. She is a voice coach, singer, and therapist who has spent years helping people—from Grammy winners to AU students—find their true voices. She is also a board-certified therapist specializing in the emotional and technical aspects of self-expression. She’s worked with clients from The Voice and American Idol, we well as corporate giants like IBM and Merrill Lynch, guiding people toward powerful, joyful communication.

We sat down with Jennifer to get her insights on how AU performing arts students can overcome self-doubt, harness their unique voices, and perform with confidence. But her lessons are designed to apply to everyone, whether they’re stepping on stage, delivering a presentation, or just speaking up!

Here, Jennifer shares her expert advice:

PH: You’ve had such a multifaceted career—singer, author, coach, therapist, teacher. What was your "aha" moment that made you want to explore the emotional side of vocal performance?

JH: Early on in my performance career, I was disheartened to see the emotional challenges of so many of my fellow singers. Particularly, how performance anxiety and personal insecurities got in the way of their passion and pleasure. Over time, I realized that about 90 percent of seemingly technical, vocal issues are in fact caused or exacerbated by psychological ones. I became determined to get to the heart of the matter and support my friends and colleagues, and eventually students and clients, in finding vocal and emotional resolution. 

PH: You’ve worked with Grammy winners, Broadway stars, and corporate executives—what’s the biggest misconception people have about their own voice?

JH: Different people have their own unique beliefs and concerns about their voices, of course. But they tend to circle the same drain: “My voice—and I—should be a certain way, and we are not there yet, if we ever can be.”  

As singers and speakers, our instruments are inside of our bodies. This unique relationship and proximity often result in our binding up our sense of worth with our personal, creative and professional expression. So often when we doubt our voices, we are doubting ourselves. The work is to extricate this bind by reminding ourselves that we—all of us—are whole and complete by virtue of being, rather than doing. 

Jennifer singing with Cirque du Soleil’s DELIRIUM.

PH: How interesting! So, then, how do you help someone find their “true voice?”

JH: Building upon your last question, by helping them to remember, or discover, their inherent worth. So many people try to “do and prove” in an effort to realize their value. But we all already have value. True self-expression stems from a desire to be and feel and share and contribute, extending from a solid foundation of self-knowing and accepting. When we’re teetering on a wire of self-doubt and insecurity—in any area of life—our energy and efforts are unsustainable. 

PH: What’s one practical tip anyone can use right before stepping on stage, or doing a presentation, or going on a job interview?

JH: The most important thing is to stop resisting the anxiety that so often stems from them. So many of us make performance anxiety wrong and try to fight it, never realizing that our resistance serves to strengthen it. In the ocean, there is no point standing still and stubborn in the face of the crashing waves; we actually find relief, and ease, when we lift our feet and allow ourselves to be buoyed on the tide. The same is true of performance anxiety. Ride the wave, rather than fight it; allow anxiety’s deepening of your breathing and heightening of your awareness to strengthen your delivery rather than cause you retreat into your fear and your head. Expand, rather than contract.  

Part of this expansion includes reframing “performance” as a conversation. When we imagine a speech, presentation, or interview to be a “me versus them” activity, anxiety blooms. That divide invites the desire to prove, impress, and succeed, as well as the possibility of failure to do so. When we set aside that barrier and instead view performance as a conversation between equals, the walls come down, and we are left simply with the task of sharing, connecting, and learning together. 

Jennifer recording at Asparagus Media Studios in Takoma Park.

PH: You’ve performed with legends like Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera—what’s a favorite behind-the-scenes moment you can share?

JH: The first thing that came to mind when you asked that is the amount of kindness and goodness I experienced. I have always been taken by the humility of the singers “at the top” with whom I’ve worked. It is an important reminder I share with my young singers: talent, training and tenacity are important. But the most important thing is to be someone with whom people want to work. Kindness, graciousness, and grace always win. 

PH: Just for fun! Let’s end with a song you never get tired of singing?

JH: “Over the Rainbow” and “Misty” are two of my favorites. Such gorgeous melodies and sweeping vocal lines… heaven!

About Jennifer

Jennifer Hamady is the author of The Art of Singing book series, as well as a voice teacher, performance coach, and a board-certified therapist specializing in technical and emotional issues that interfere with self-expression. Her clients include Grammy, Helen Hayes, American Music, and Country Music award-winners, performers in Emmy and Tony award-winning productions, contestants on The Voice and American Idol, and many corporate clients. She writes regularly for Psychology Today, American Songwriter, The Huffington Post, and Finding Your Voice.
 
Jennifer has enjoyed a successful singing and performance career. She toured internationally with Cirque du Soleil’s DELIRIUM as a lead singer and sang back-up vocals for artists and television programs including Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Patti LaBelle, Wyclef Jean, Def Leppard, Jessica Simpson, Smokey Robinson, The Grammys, American Idol, David Letterman, Good Morning America, and The Tonight Show. She has written with songwriters, artists, and composers including Mike Reid, Gary Burr, Wyclef Jean, and Mark O’Connor. She holds professional affiliations with The American Counseling Association, National Board of Certified Counselors, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, among many others.

For more information about Jennifer, visit her Find Your Voice website.