P.A.T.S.

So you are standing there getting ready to perform, your buddies are flitting around you chatting, some lady is asking you questions, the music of the previous act is dying down, and you are all adrenaline. What happened to all the things you told yourself you'd remember right before you went on? For some reason you can't seem to think past the second, much less remember all the mantras that you knew would set your head straight and make you ready to perform.........I've got a solution, try P.A.T.S.
    I am a big fan of acronyms. I am also a big fan of easy one two three step rhymes or ditty's to help you remember something. I once took a three day ( and several thousand dollar) seminar with a morning show coach, and know what I took away from it? That we are so bombarded as a people by images, sales, etc, from every angle, that rarely can we remember anything past 1. 2. 3. So from then on we ( the morning show people), condensed everything into threes. Jokes, points, etc. It worked. For some reason if you break something down like that and make it catchy, the brain can remember.
    So back to P.A.T.S. This happens to be my own personal thingy I do before performing, you can steal it, or make your own based on what is important to you.

P. -Presence
This helps me remember to be involved in each movement and not be thinking about anything else but what I am doing.

A.-Acceptance
I have found that accepting what you are feeling, even the nervousness, can be very cathartic. If you try to push the nervousness away then it will only come back with a vengeance. If you say, "hey, yeah, you are here, I am gonna use you for fuel", it works every time.

T. - Total Connection To The Music
It is all about the music. Be a slave to your music.

S. - Superior Posture
I had to put that in there to remember to keep my shoulders back and down. My boobs are so big I have a tendency to slump. ANNNND if you start out a dance with fabulous posture you are most likely to keep it up throughout the dance.

I actually pat my belly while I say this to myself. Kind of a Pavlov's dog thing.
Have fun making your own.