Silence the hyper-critical voice inside your head by following this sage advice on managing imposter syndrome.

Have you ever felt that you’re not good enough and that you just don’t have the talent, qualifications or brio to succeed? Well, you’re in good company.

Some of the world’s finest talents, such as David Bowie, Maya Angelou and Tom Hanks, have been plagued by feelings of inadequacy and the fear of being ‘found out’.

Even Albert Einstein (yes, the genius who developed the theory of relativity) confessed to feeling like an “involuntary swindler”.

If acclaimed artists, writers, actors and Nobel Prize winners struggle with imposter syndrome, is it any wonder singing teachers do too?

After all, singing teachers tend to work alone, so they’re without a support team to lean on and learn from. It can be a lonely journey, one on which it’s easy to lose perspective.

The prevalence of imposter syndrome

We know imposter syndrome is widespread among singing teachers because, well, we asked them.

BAST’s Alexa Terry surveyed 33 singing teachers and found they had all experienced imposter syndrome, low confidence and overwhelm.

More than half said these feelings arose now and again, while 15% said they cropped up daily.

So, what’s driving this? Here’s a list of some of the culprits.

• Isolation.
• Fear of judgement by peers.
• Making comparisons with other voice teachers.
• Worry about an impending lesson and/or reflecting negatively on a previous lesson.
• Feeling like a failure when exercises don’t go as well as expected or vocal issues can’t be resolved.
• Social media.
• Information overwhelm.
• Perfectionism.
• The pressure of juggling work and life demands.
• Intrusive negative thoughts.

Dealing with low confidence

On the Singing Teachers Talk podcast, Alexa – who is no stranger to imposter syndrome herself – urges teachers to cut themselves some slack.

“We are mere mortals,” she says. It’s unrealistic to expect lessons to always be plain sailing or that you’ll have a major breakthrough every single time.

“Whose expectations are they anyway? Is this what our students really expect of us and the lesson? Or are we accidentally forcing our own standards and expectations onto them?”

On the podcast, Alexa shared some other tips for managing feelings of low confidence. Here’s a flavour of what she said.

Strategies for managing imposter syndrome

Reframe

Turn your negative thoughts into a catalyst for growth. If there’s an area of voice you don’t feel you know enough about, don’t berate yourself. Celebrate your curiosity and desire to grow as a singing teacher and focus your CPD on this aspect of voice. 

Challenge

When that voice in your head says you’re not good enough, push back. Where is it written that you can’t ace your next lesson, win that promotion or land that incredible opportunity? (Fact: it’s not written anywhere; it’s not real.)

Admit you don’t know

You don’t have to be an all-knowing voice guru. If you can’t answer a question, admit you don’t know the answer. Explain that you’ll investigate and return to your student with an answer in the next lesson. This will help your students to understand that learning is a lifelong journey.

Set boundaries

It’s exhausting to try to please everyone all the time, and it can lead to burnout. Set clear boundaries regarding the hours you work and when you’ll respond to emails and inquiries.

Ask

When you hit a brick wall, reach out to someone. If you struggle to sing your own praises in your marketing, ask students for testimonials explaining why they like learning with you. If a teaching issue crops up repeatedly, ask fellow teachers (in person or online) for advice. You don’t have to figure everything out for yourself.

Listen

Take a deeper dive into imposter syndrome by listening to this episode of the Singing Teachers Talk podcast, where Alexa discusses:

• Her personal experience with imposter syndrome.
• Research on the topic.
• Building a support network.

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