The only way I know to conquer nerves or stagefright is to practice the repertoire so thoroughly that I could sing and play it backwards, sideways and standing on my head. I used to get nerves in my early performance days - many years ago - and realised that I was nervous because, at heart, I was under-rehearsed. I thought I'd got a tune or song off pat but, in reality, it wasn't a part of me.

Everybody's different, and I can only speak for myself, but I've found that drilling a piece into my head by playing it literally hundreds of times out loud, and also inside my head while doing other things is a must. I've spent a whole day sometimes, just repeating the same thing over and over again - with the odd break of course!

When I was starting out on the guitar, back in the mid-60s, an older musician friend was very keen on what he termed "psycho-cybernetics", by which he meant visualising yourself performing the piece while away from the instrument. Visualise the hands on the fretboard in your head - visualise the notes or the chords or the words on a sheet of music, etc. I've found over time that this improves ones so-called "photographic" memory facility - I really can see the words or chords I've written down - and this helps in performance preparation.

Nothing's perfect, of course, and those senior or not-so-senior moments creep up on us now and then. I never stop if this should happen to me - just play through them and pick up the thread as and when I can.

In your own case, while you're reading through your pieces, forget the audience in front of you - concentrate on the meaning and point of the text to yourself. Make sense of it - enjoy it. Enjoy reading the words and the audience will enjoy you reading them.

Just a thought.