Stage Nerves to Stage Presence with Albert Bramante

What if the difference between freezing on stage and flowing under pressure came down to a few trainable behaviors? We sat down with Dr. Albert Bramonte—a rare blend of New York theatrical talent agent and psychology PhD—to unpack the practical tools that turn anxiety into presence and presence into impact for hosts, speakers, and entrepreneurs.

Albert pulls back the curtain on improv as a business superpower: the “yes, and” mindset that keeps you agile when slides fail, questions curve, or timing shifts. We dig into story structure that actually serves an audience—using a simple feel–felt–found arc to be vulnerable without oversharing, to go deep and still guide listeners back to a clear takeaway. You’ll hear why karaoke (yep, sober) is a surprisingly effective exposure exercise, how “act as if” leverages physiology to shift your psychology, and the small rituals that broadcast calm and credibility the moment you take the mic.

We also talk reps, resilience, and real feedback. Aim for 100 episodes before you judge your voice. Treat “failure” as data and build a happy file—a physical record of compliments, reviews, and small wins—to counter self-doubt when it spikes. Albert shares techniques to maintain connection when tech breaks, to make eye contact that feels like a conversation, and to keep going without drawing attention to stumbles. The throughline is simple: confidence is a practice, not a personality trait, and performers and founders share the same stage.

If you’re ready to speak with more clarity, warmth, and authority—without sounding like a robot—this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe for more practical psychology and performance tools, share with a friend who’s stepping onto a stage, and leave a review with the one tip you’ll try next.

Chapters

• 0:11 Meet Dr. Albert Bramonte
• 0:29 Dual Career: Agent and Professor
• 1:19 Psychology x Acting for Business
• 2:24 Improv Over Scripts
• 4:01 Comfort Zones and Karaoke
• 6:05 Using Nerves as Fuel
• 8:50 Don’t Be a Robot on Stage
• 10:50 Practice, Reps, and 100 Episodes
• 13:18 Vulnerability Builds Connection
• 15:10 Ditch the Notes, Keep the Story Arc
• 17:01 Tech Fails and “Show Must Go On”
• 19:05 Reframing Failure as Feedback
• 22:01 Audience Experience and Storyselling
• 26:29 Connect with Albert & His Book
• 27:59 The Happy File and Celebrating Wins
• 29:30 Gratitude, Wrap, and Sign-Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:11

Now, Albert, uh, let me I'm gonna butcher it. So I'm gonna go ahead and let you take it away for us, Albert. Let us know who you are and how um who you help.

SPEAKER_01: 0:22

Okay. Well, first of all, thank you, Nicole, for having me on. I'm really happy to be here, be a guest on this uh show. My name is Dr. Albert Bramonte. I am a uh talent agent as well as a psychology professor, author. I have a PhD in psychology. So I've been working as a college professor and also a theatrical talent agent in New York. I own uh Bramante Artists, which is a full-service talent agency. So what I do primarily in this role is I represent actors for different projects, film, TV, theater, commercial print, and voiceover, essentially acting as an employment agent. So trying to find them work and opportunities. And I'm also an you know an adjunct professor on the side. So I teach usually three, three psychology classes a semester, uh, lifespan, usually child psych or word psychology personality. So that's what I do. Um, you know, I wrote a book last year called Rise Above the Script, Confronting Self-Doubt, Mastering Self-Sabotage for Performing Artists, uh, which has been, you know, a lifetime pretty much of experience going into that book.

SPEAKER_00: 1:36

That is amazing. I love the crossroads of psychology and acting. And you also mentioned right, um, helping business owners with acting. So that's one of the things that I've done is I ended up working with an acting coach, and that has helped me with this podcast, right? And being able to speak eloquently and also working on my story, working on speaking on stages. So, can you tell me a little bit how the psychology and the acting that we need as business owners who are putting ourselves out there?

SPEAKER_01: 2:14

Yeah, I mean, you definitely mentioned it quite well. I mean, just whether it's hosting, being a guest on a podcast, doing uh speaking on stages. One thing that you kind of I think a skill that we all can use benefit from is improvisation. You know, what happens when you go on that stage and you're about to hit record and you have all these notes in front of you, and something goes wrong. And now you have to speak off the cuff. And so I think what can happen there sometimes is we we get so wrapped up in routine, routine, routine that we're not free enough to just speak off the cuff and improv or have that confidence enough to speak off the cuff. We're experts already. I mean, we we've made the stages, we've made you know the life experiences. So I think the point is that trusting yourself and not relying on things like I don't when I make when I give presentation myself, I don't have that many notes in front of me because I speak off the cuff. And even when I do have notes in front of me, I don't reference them a lot. Uh, because you know, my role is connecting to the audience. So I think what acting can do, you know, training or even improv training is help you, you know, be freer, but also connect to the audience or connect to whoever it is you're speaking with, you know, whether it's a small group or a large group. So that I think can certainly um help with the confidence a bit. Um so and I do recommend improv classes for you know owner business owners, speakers, uh, also just doing anything to step outside your comfort zone, like exercise like that. Um if you really want to throw somebody you know on the deep end, have them go to a karaoke bar, you know, like I often say sometimes too karaoke, sober. And you know, you really want to that helps tremendously. I mean, I don't know how it feels I can't say it's benefits for the for the audience, but it still is you know, it it helps, you know, you be freer when you're able to do that. And and that's the biggest point of that. And you can play, even though you're still being serious with being a host or a speaker, it's still having that mindset of I'm playing now.

SPEAKER_00: 4:40

That's acting, right? We're playing.

SPEAKER_01: 4:43

Yeah, we're all playing a role, you know, right now. So we're we're always acting in life. It's just being freer in that and not being so much wrapped up into what am I gonna say next, and uh, and and worried about what's gonna come next. And then we freeze and then we wind up having issues that come in.

SPEAKER_00: 5:03

Uh I think that's such a great tip of getting on a karaoke stage because I think we all have a fear of that stage. And being able to to do that in a low-stakes situation where there probably is a bunch of drunk people who are not gonna remember you anyway.

SPEAKER_01: 5:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 5:22

Um, and you can just let loose and nothing, you're not, you know, the world doesn't end. You're like, okay, I can do this. Um, yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01: 5:31

Yeah, well, and and everyone's kind of I mean, it's karaoke, so it's not, you know, there's no no one's expecting you to be, you know, great. Um, that's the whole purpose of it. It's to sing something fun that everybody can can sing along with. And we all sound totally off key, but it's that's the fun of it. And it's just it's freer. You know, I I um, you know, uh one of the things I always stuck about was stepping outside your comfort zone. And you know, when maybe like five, you know, six years ago, before the pandemic happened, I was happening to be around New York City. I had a couple a long space in my day, and I I said, you know, what am I gonna do? You know, what am I gonna do? And I saw that there was a meetup, a karaoke meetup. But I I when I initially went into the meetup, I thought I was gonna be sitting and watching. Oh no. Um, it was a small group, and this is my first time. I've done karaoke before in open spaces. This is my four first time doing it in a short, in a small, closed-off room. So when you normally do karaoke, a lot of times you can't really hear yourself singing. So I remember everyone said, okay, put your songs in, and I was gonna hold back. They're like, okay, like and then you say, Albert, let's you know, let me know what you're gonna sing right now. And mind you, I had nothing to drink, you know, no liquid encouragement. So at this time, I was like, Well, I'm here. So I started singing, and what was even more terrifying in the moment was the fact that because it was such a closed-off room, I actually heard myself loud and stereo. I was sounded. I'm like, but you know, when I was done, I felt so good about the performance. You know, not about the performance, but just the fact that I did that. You know, the fact that I was able to be brave enough to put myself out in a room with strangers, I didn't even know. Um, and I think that's a a skill set that is important for speakers and hosts is to have that comfort or at least that ease of saying, okay, I can get up there and think. And also, I I want to also mention one thing that nerves or anxiety is normal. I've even heard like Tony Robbins say sometimes that he gets a little bit of the jitters before going up to speak. So that you know, to get rid of that is I think a myth. How to use it now, though, for your advantage is the key. And you know, it can be adrenaline. It's like an adrenaline rush. And that can actually sometimes fuel that. Like sometimes, you know, I've I've in my past when I go to presentation at the conferences uh or you know, in in in classes or on stages, I would sometimes, you know, some of the times where I was the most nervous or tense was the best, you know, jobs I've done because I was able to use that diadrenaline kicked in and I was now in full force. Um so yeah, that's that's sort of the thing I would kind of like in a nutshell, what I would say for business owners or or oaths or whatever, you know, that you're doing professionally, that just to be free in that, you know, even if you're taking, you know, I'm not saying anyone needs to become a professional actor. That may be the furthest thing you want to do, but just being free to speak up on stage is is the key thing there, and not being and not appear like a robot. I've seen a lot, so we've been seen a lot of speeches where I'm like, you know, they look like you know, deer in the headlights look, and it's like you know, they're robotic like, and it doesn't come across very well.

SPEAKER_00: 9:12

Yeah, um, you know, that's what helps you stand out and be memorable, right? Because people remember that you were confident, even if you sang kind of bad, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01: 9:24

No, it's that and and we're we're drawn to bold, confident people. And and that's also, you know, there's there's also the the thing about the state, the popular statement, fake it till you make it, which is partially true and partially not true. When I say partially true, I think a lot of times just project the confidence, even if you're not feeling it, project it and it will follow because you know, my background like it with NLP neurolinguistic programming is that if we sometimes show the action first, the the be you know, the internal state will follow. Like, for example, if if you smile, you know, even if you're not feeling very, but if you smile for a while genuinely, your internal state will change. So that's where sometimes it's best if you want to show emotions, project the outwardly behavior first, and then it'll follow so project confidence and it will follow. So that's that's something I often say to you know, ways to overcome. Do things and just practice, do them. Like even, you know, like for podcasts, for people who want to be podcasters, I just tell them, look, shoot up, get put yourself on Zoom, even if you do solo episodes in the beginning, and and you may not even release them in the beginning. And and just say, hey, just get practice talking to yourself on Zoom for uh you know uh 20 minutes, half an hour on a topic, you know, even chat with some friends first in the beginning. Say, hey, you know, let me get this the hang of interviewing you. Because the more you do it, any task, the the more comfortable you're gonna be, then more comfortable you are, the more effective you're gonna be.

SPEAKER_00: 11:11

Um just to to mirror what you were saying, one of the tips that I got when I started my podcast journey, you know, over four years ago at this point was get to a hundred, get to the first hundred episodes because you don't you haven't even found your voice until you've recorded a hundred episodes.

SPEAKER_01: 11:35

Exactly. And I would say I would even uh qualify it and say at least a hundred. At least a hundred. And you know, if you think about it, unfortunately, a lot of podcasters don't reach that. You know, they'll they'll shoot, you know, maybe 10 episodes. Oh, this is not working. No, sometimes you need 500 to 1000, you know, episodes before you get that large following. Um, and the important thing is is like you're still doing it for the sake of enjoying it. So that's another thing, too, is you know, do it for the enjoyment, whatever it is you're setting out to be, whether you're a speaker or a host, if you do that for the sake of enjoyment, who the outcome, well, you know, that's icing on the cake. If it comes great, if not, you had fun, and you and your guests had fun if you bring on a guest. And that's that's the only way to do that, I I feel, is to just practice, you know, and and whether it's on state, you know, even in front of a mirror. I know it sounds cool, you know, but just practice speaking and take every opportunity you can get, and just because that's the only way you're gonna get more comfortable out of it. It's one of those things like if you want to you want to get over your fear of public speaking, we gotta rip the band-aid off. And you just gotta do it. Um, because that's the only way you're gonna overcome anything is by sometimes doing it. You know, even in my work as a you know, with psychology, if you have a fear of phobia, the only way you're gonna really overcome that fear is by facing it head on, which it's not gonna be easy. I'm not gonna sit here and say it's the easiest thing you'll do, but that's the way you overcome it. You gotta sometimes stare, you know, head on.

SPEAKER_00: 13:15

Absolutely. Um I've had so many thoughts just with everything you've said. One of the ones that you you mentioned a few minutes ago, you were talking about people are drawn to a bold story, and it made me think of bravery, the way that Dr. Brene Brown defines it, as vulnerability. And when we get up on that stage, that's vulnerability. And so that is something to be admired, that is something to be respected, and that is something that you have to do it to learn to ask the right questions, right? Because the first time I got on stage, I had prepared my presentation and I knew what I was gonna say, and then they threw a pointer and a mic in my hand, and I was like, I did not plan for this.

SPEAKER_01: 14:07

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:08

I didn't think about it, and my knuckles were white because I was holding the microphone so tight, and I was like, relax, like it's not gonna go anywhere, right? And you, you know, those little things, and I didn't even know that was a question I had to ask till I was there.

SPEAKER_01: 14:22

Yeah, and and that yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with Brennan, you know, that um because you know, a lot of people encourage the absence of fear, it's not, it's you know, and learning to you know be work through it. Um and again, bravery could just be being vulnerable, and that's where people connect with. You know, people connect with a speaker for you know, on a one-on-one basis, even though they may be speaking to thousands of people, uh the audience member is going to connect to a speaker that can resonate with them. So um that's the one thing I would say. Sometimes, even uh what I advise speakers to do is sometimes look at particular people in the audience while you're speaking and pretend like you're just having that chat with that. That's your friend in the audience. And you just look at different people and you look around and you make eye contact. Because so many times I'll see these speakers they're looking up at the ceiling, they're looking up at their mic or their faces buried in their notes, and it's not going to come across as authentic, and you're not gonna really be reaching the audience. So speak to somebody in in that audience, look at somebody and make eye contact and pretend like you're speaking to them. And yeah, be vulnerable, be you know, because people love authenticity, people love vulnerability, and that's what will really make because even if you listen to Tony Robbins, I mean he gets extremely vulnerable on stage. Um, or any, you know, Renee Brown, uh, Mel Robbins, all these people that are like in the self-help uh world and that have these, you know, outstanding podcasts and these large followings, they're getting vulnerable every episode.

unknown: 16:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 16:02

And you know, really going into and telling some deep, you know, deep stuff about their own lives. And I think that's what makes them so successful is they're not doing a canned script, they're not doing that. Um even when I was in college, when I was in public speaking class, our professor would, you know, if we noticed it that we were relying on our note cards, he would come right up to us and take our note cards and put them on the desk. I've got to keep keep going because you know, and and that is terrifying, but the process is that you know, I really see the value on that lesson tremendously now. Like let you know, you should not be reliable on your uh note cards.

SPEAKER_00: 16:46

And I think that's a great point. Um, to tie back into well, what does that have to do with acting if I'm just speaking off the cuff, right? And that is where I've learned to structure my stories with a purpose. If I'm gonna take you down into the depths of my despair because I was there, I need a plan for getting you back out. I need to know where this story is going because I don't want to go on a tangent and you know be like, oh my God, and then this happened, it was horrible. And now you're crying in a puddle and everybody feels bad. That's not the point, right?

SPEAKER_01: 17:24

No, so not at all.

SPEAKER_00: 17:27

Having that practice with an acting coach who can help you pinpoint those vulnerable moments that they're ready to share, right? Because you have to have done the work internally. Yeah, and also structure getting out so that it serves a purpose to your story, to your business, to what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01: 17:47

Of course. And it's always like that feel, felt, sound phenomenon. Okay, so this is how I feel, this is what I felt, and this is what I found. And if you keep that formula in there, it'll keep you track. So you're not, you can just take them down and then come back up and say, okay, I'm gonna pivot. And here's how what I've learned, and here's how how I overcome. Because a lot of times when you do tell these stories, uh, you're connecting. And that's the bet, you know, the best speakers, if you think about it, tell stories. They're not just talking about facts. I mean, they may they may mix stuff in there, but they're gonna okay, go back to a story and then have an outcome. And and because there's a good chance that somebody else is going through that story right now speaking. Um, but yeah, having having that focus, I I mean, it it's just just being again that freeing moment, I think, is so valuable, you know, and that flexibility that anything can happen. You can get an audience member can make a comment or a question that can totally change the trajectory of your presentation. And I think you have to be ready for that. Um, again, equipment can malfunction. Um, you know, this is why I don't, I'm not, you know, I I I like PowerPoint to a degree, but I don't rely on it because I could get up on stage if I if I'm totally relying on PowerPoint. What if there's a power failure? What if my cable or computer can't connect to the PowerPoint slides? Am I gonna fall like a bottle and collapse? No, I have to the show must go on. That's another acting thing. The show must go on. Uh, even when you mess up as a speaker, a lot of times just continue, just continue. That's the whole thing with acting. Like when people are performing in plays, you you swell the line. Go, don't swell on it. And most of the time, the audience doesn't even pick up on that, right? You know, unless you really draw attention to it. But other than that, just go with it. You know, you say the wrong thing. Okay, well, just correct yourself and move on. Um, you're human, your audience will either forget or they'll forgive. You know, even if they do catch on, they'll they'll they'll forgive you. Plus, we also when we're self-conscious, we actually are very harsh on ourselves. Because there are times even when I thought, like, oh, this is this is poorly done. Uh, you know, people are not, and then you know, people are coming out. That was great. I'm like, okay. So and if you do what another thing I do with even you know, dealing with with failure or or feedback, constructive criticism, um, look at it as feedback. So one of the things that I always tell anybody I work with, there's no such thing as failure, only feedback. So even if someone comes up to you after you hosted an episode or you've been on the stage and someone says, Well, I feel like you would have done this better, or this better, or that better. Well, okay, you know, now maybe that's their opinion, yes. But if there's something in there that you could that you can gain, like, well, you know, I didn't think of that. Okay, I'll make sure of that. Uh, use more eye contact, you know, look more around the room, um, talk more about that. You should say, I wish you talked more about okay, great. Now I know for next time. Not to dwell on and say, oh no, I did a horrible job. You know, last year I presented at a hypnosis conference. I did a topic on hypnosis and anxiety for you know, for an hour, it was a 45-minute talk. And there were 21 people in the room, and they all submitted evaluations. 19 of them were five out of five, which is amazing. Uh, one of them was like a three out of five, you know, it was unclear. One of them was really one out of five, like totally like this was a messed up disorganized presentation, a waste of my time. Now, the old Albert would have been crumbling like a puddle. If I because and I and it wouldn't have mattered that I just had 19 people telling me it was great. I would have been focusing and dwelling on that one person. And now what I was really impressed was was I let that roll off. I'm like, well, that was I'm sorry, I wasn't I'm not ever gonna be everyone's cup of tea. I get that. That happens. Oh well, move on. You know, I I I impacted 19. Now, now if if if all 19 were saying that this was then I would have to sit there and not still not dwell on it, but say, okay, well, next time I do this talk, I need to change a couple of things around. And so I use that as feedback. You know, I don't even like the word like um the I I often reframe the word like constructive criticism. Can you give me, you know, can I give you some feedback? Because I think when you hear, you know, what do you do? You know, think about somebody who says to you, hey, I got some constructive criticism to give you. Automatically, like, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna shut down. But it's like, hey, I have some feedback. So what is some feedback from from this? And I often say when you're giving feedback, I often one of the techniques I love to use is is a compliment sandwich. You've ever heard of that. You say something good, and then something can be approved, and you end off with a with a compliment. But feedback is much more less is less disarming, and it helps you overcome because that's the goal. You know, we want to help other people overcome things. Well, sometimes we have to give them informed feedback, which may not always be complimentary, but also respectful enough so that you know we can grow from that. So, you know, being being open to feedback is also part of the coaching process, too. And to know that we're not perfect, you know. Again, you know, as you said, you know, I would I would challenge you know every you know podcast host, okay, listen to episode one and then listen to episode 100. And then even episode 200 keep going, you know, and then you'll see, oh, I'm getting better. I'm getting better. And that's and and you know, a lot of times your audience is tuning in, they're not tuning in because they're working for both, they're looking to be inspired, so they're not gonna be even noticing the the the flop, the flubs or the here and there all the time. So just practice, you know, that's the whole thing too. With even with acting, you know, it's just practice every day. But that's with any skill, you know, whether it's acting, speaking, playing sports, playing music, it's just daily practice.

SPEAKER_00: 24:12

Yeah. Um, to your point, if they don't know that it's supposed to be there, I used to be a server and we used to have to go to the whole spiel. This is this menu, this is this menu. But let me tell you, every time I went through the little spiel, I always made more in tips because I sold more stuff, right? But we would have to go through a certain process, and the the managers would remind us, you know, when we were opening up the restaurant, they were like, they don't know the order. So if you mess it up, you keep going, they're not gonna be like, oh, you did it wrong, because they don't know. And if they do know, like if the audience knows, right, you messed up a line and the audience is like adoring the play, they know every line and they see that you messed it up, but you didn't let that rattle you, they're gonna be impressed. They're gonna be like, Oh, she fumbled a little bit, but that didn't even stop her at all. Like she just kept going. So, either way, you win.

SPEAKER_01: 25:07

Of course, and that's the way it's just just go with it. I mean, and that's where I feel like some of the acting training will will be good for you, the improv writing will do because it'll just tell you to just like use a technique of yes and okay, made the mistake, and let's keep going. Um, so that you know, afterwards it can uh be a lot easier. And yeah, I mean, I and most of the people that are in a restaurant are gonna are when they're listening to to the specials, they're gonna be finding out what they want, not whether you said this before or not. They uh and they already have their mind up a lot of times when they sit into that chair what they already want. So they're just hearing you, but it's connection, it's showing them when you do that, I respect you. And those are the weight staff that get the most tips are the ones that show the most genuine interest and care for the for the customer or the patrons.

SPEAKER_00: 25:58

The ones that paint the best story, because it was all about creating that that experience, right? Of elevating it. You're not just here to eat a random Tuesday, like it's Margarita Tuesday, let's make it a party, right? And you create an experience, you're acting, you're letting them know these are the amazing things. Um, yeah, and that's acting too, right? You have a script and everything. Um tell me how can the audience stay in touch with you?

SPEAKER_01: 26:29

Okay, well, you can uh follow me on Instagram at dr.albermonti. Um, I'm also on LinkedIn and Facebook, you know, under Albert Bramonte. Um, feel free to reach out, DM me, you know, if anything you want to talk about. Um, you can also go to my website at albertbermonti.com, uh, which has um, you know, recordings and things, you know, confidence builders um for any and all issues. Feel free to, you know, take a look at that. Um, and also my book. I just want to give a plug to my book. Uh, it's called Rise Up of the Script, Confronting Self-Doubt and Mastering Self-Sabotage for Performing Artists. It's available on Amazon. I have it both as a paperback, a Kindle, and also audiobook. So feel free to you know check it out. And I'd love to have any conversations with you moving forward. And and I want to thank you again for having me on here.

SPEAKER_00: 27:27

And remember, if you're a speaker, if you're a podcast host, if you're a podcast guest, if you're doing PR, you're a performing artist in your own way. And this book is gonna be super helpful. I can already tell just because you're such an expert. Like, and I love, like I said, that you mix it's not just the acting side of it, you have that psychology background. And so I just think that those two things, that's just such a winning combination. So that is amazing. Great resource.

SPEAKER_01: 27:54

Well, thank you. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you again for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 27:58

Yes, of course. And final tip can you leave us off with what's like the biggest tip that you share with your audience that leaves them with the biggest aha moment?

SPEAKER_01: 28:06

Sure. Um, remember what it is that you're doing, um, and celebrate all your wins, small or large. Well, there's a really thing as a small win. A win is a win. So I in my book I talk about the happy file. So one of the things about the happy file is you get out a physical journal. I, you know, I'm I'm old school here, and write down anytime if you're a speaker or host, or you get a compliment uh from an audience member, or you know, or some someone who is an attendee, uh, you get a good review if you're an actor, or a compliment from an audience member, any type of compliment you get, document that. So when moments of self-doubt come in, which is a human condition. It's normal to have self-doubt. I have self-doubt. We all have self-doubt at times. Pull out your happy file when those self-moments of self-doubt comes in, and then it'll remember why you're connected, why you're doing what you're doing. And then it'll help you still can you know maintain connection to your why. So that's what I would have to say.

SPEAKER_00: 29:09

I love that. We didn't even talk about gratitude, but gratitude is like the foundation of everything I do. So I love that you brought it up. And I love that you call it the happy file. It could be happy file, it could be a happy jar, it could be a happy whatever, right? But I love that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 29:24

Yes, whatever you want to call it.

SPEAKER_00: 29:28

Thank you so much. This has been amazing. All right, and we will catch you guys next time on the next episode of Overcome Yourself a Podcast. Bye.