How do you all get over the fear of singing in front of people?

Freezing is super common, and the way out is tiny, repeatable exposures plus a simple routine your body trusts. For 3 to 4 weeks, do one daily rep: record yourself singing 60 to 90 seconds into your phone and listen once. In week 2, share a clip with one friend; in week 3, sing it live to two friends on a call; in week 4, go to an open mic, ask to go on early, sing one short song, and head out.

Before every rep, spend 2 minutes settling your breath: inhale through the nose for 4, then a long, steady 6 to 8 count exhale on a quiet hiss or lip trill to teach your body smooth airflow. Release tension with gentle shoulder rolls, jaw massage, and a tongue stretch (tip behind lower teeth while you yawn sigh), which helps keep the shaky vibrato from clamping your throat. Do 3 to 5 minutes of semi-occluded vocal exercises that are very neighbor-friendly: lip trills, straw phonation by blowing through a straw (without water is quiet), and NG sirens like the end of sing up and down your range, then a few five-note scales at conversation volume. Finish by speaking the first line in rhythm, then sneak into it on a gentle vv or zz so you avoid a hard first vowel, which is where most shakes show up.

When it is go time, stand with soft knees and weight over mid foot, unclench your butt and belly, shake out your hands, and exhale fully before the first word; this dumps a bit of adrenaline and steadies the onset. Use headphones for your backing track and sing at speech level to keep volume down, put a towel at the base of the door, or practice in the parked car for full privacy if you have one. Pick songs where the first phrase sits in your comfy middle range, and if nerves spike, tell yourself this is excitement, keep your eyes on one spot on the wall, and aim to just tell the story of the lyrics. Expect the first two lines to wobble and plan to breathe right through it; it almost always settles by the chorus, and banking a few of these small wins is exactly how the fear fades.

You fix the shakes by training your body it's safe. Daily 10-minute drill: 2 minutes slow nasal inhales with long hissed exhales; 3 minutes straw-in-water bubbles; 2 minutes lip trills/sirens; 3 minutes sing one verse/chorus at conversational volume, one take only. Next, add small exposures: sing to the bathroom mirror, then send one voice memo to a friend, then stand up in shoes and sing facing a corner. Keep knees soft, jaw loose (two-finger massage by the ears), and do 30 seconds of shoulder rolls right before singing to bleed off adrenaline. Neighbor-friendly: hum into a towel or sing in the car, and run a fan/white noise. Skip caffeine an hour prior, sip warm water with a pinch of salt, pick an easy key, and start within three seconds so your brain doesn't spiral.

Because nobody tells you the truth: open mics are mostly people waiting for their own turn, and lessons cost more than your mic will. You'll think every eye is on you, but you're background noise for drinks and fries — which is actually liberating if you let it be. The nerves won't vanish, so stack the deck: choose a song under your ceiling, transpose down two semitones, practice at 60–70% volume with a karaoke track so you don't tick off neighbors, and do 10 jumping jacks before each run to mimic stage adrenaline. When you go, don't give a speech about being nervous or "first time"; walk up, breathe once, start immediately, and keep the tempo lazy. If the monitor is harsh, ask the host for less in the wedge or sing slightly off-axis; sounding comfortable beats sounding loud.

Closet, towel, straw-in-water, lip trills, one-take voice memo, repeat daily.