I haven’t actually attended an Empire event yet, but as it draws closer, I find myself more and more worried about actually being a part of things.
I can barely practice introducing my character alone without going beet-red and cutting myself off. I feel utterly ridiculous and the idea of doing it in front of people is mortifying. Is it something everyone experiences that you just have to get over or am I perhaps just not the right demographic for LARPing?
Hey there! It is perfectly normal to feel silly at first, you’re not alone there. I definitely felt silly doing it at first! But we’re all there doing it - no-one else will view you as silly, because they’re there doing it with you.
From what I’ve seen, there are two different schools of thought when it comes to this kind of thing: either play a character completely different to yourself, or play one similar to yourself. For me, I went the latter way, and found that it meant that my conversations flowed more naturally as I wasn’t 100% out of my comfort zone.
It does take a bit of time to get used to, but it will get easier, and possibly quicker than you think. Also, using the phrase “I’m new to Anvil” will tell the person you’re talking to that this is your first time, and people at Empire are always happy to explain things, or even just talk at newbies on their favourite topics!
Good advice from Triska, I’ll add that feeling silly is very common 
You’ll also find being in costume and everyone around you also being in costume and responding to you as their character helps get you in the right frame of mind.
In my case my characters circlet pressing on my forehead, and the weight of all the pouches and things I have on my belt definitely help me respond as Hananiah, and mean I think a lot less about real life.
Immersion is a powerful thing but there are certainly times it feels a bit silly, some lines are impossible to deliver straight 
But everyone gets it!
Doing it in front of people out of character is weird. But when you get in the field, and everyone is doing it, it feels much more natural. Imagine if you were the only person wearing jeans and a t-shirt: in a train station you’d feel perfectly at home but at a fancy ball you’d feel like the odd one out. It’s the same but in reverse.
It’s okay to feel a bit daunted, the first few interactions can be a bit clunky while you’re getting used to it, but you won’t feel as out of place as you do in your mirror at home, I promise! You’ll be one of us.
Additional: May I reccomend having a look at the experiences of several other new players, and indeed the introduction video below.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=introduction+to+Empire+LRP
Thank you all for the advice and support!
I’ll certainly give it my best try, and it’s comforting to know it’s not unusual to feel awkward about things like that.
New question but also regarding RP, how do you keep track of times when performing something that requires “X minutes of appropriate roleplay”? I feel like I couldn’t accurately count five minutes in my head and I doubt whoever I’m working on/with could either.
It’s usually a combo of back-forth play when it’s something physick linked
(30 seconds is enough to get a lammie out, hand it over to someone with instructions to ‘eat it’, and make sure they have done so.
2 mins is usually the time it takes to ask someone where it hurts, find where it hurts, and pantomime the fixing of said hurt…or 5 mins of the same but with more effort/back and forth)
I know that my friend who plays on the ritual magic side of things has a book with wordings that they know will take and they can alway ham it up if they think it’s not gone on long enough
Usually timings are more “around (X) seconds/minutes” rather than right on the dot
(And it is a practice thing as well. The longer you play, the more you get a feeling for what the time ‘feels like’)
It’s worth noting that no one is going to be standing there with a stop watch checking your timing.
You fairly quickly get a feel for what roughly 30 seconds or a couple of minutes feels like and generally you’re not going to have someone jump in and go " um actually you need to do another 15 seconds" on your 5 minutes of physician RP.
When someone is dying, the dying character tends to do a slow count to 180 (3 minutes) in their head. Since there’s not much else to do at that point other than thrash around making dying noises most people can keep track of that one. 
Generally speaking at long as you’re not taking the Mick and trying to do something ridiculously fast you’ll be fine.
As noted, it tends to be approximate and the 5 minute things aren’t usually so urgent as to need precise timings.
I have some spells I do (using several verses of rhyming verse) and in that case I’ve timed them to get the cadence right (30 seconds).
For big rituals and the like they may have been practised to get them to about the right length, but as noted by Squeek_D, these can be hammed up as appropriate.
It’s possible to get watches and the like that look vaguely IC (some nice tiny ones stored under folding rings or bracelets), or you could even, as a physick, invest in a small sandtimer, to deploy when beginning treatment.
But frankly, no-one’s going to mind to much if you check your watch every so often.
Timing wise you can also use egg timers and if you’ve got more than one person in a magical ritual you can designated a person to keep time.
Adding to what people have already said it really is a lot easier when you’re in amongst 2000+ people all doing the same thing as you. And yes the whole process of putting on your costume and getting into character helps too, I find standing up and talking in public much easier as a character as it’s not me doing it so to speak .
And also we’ve all been there, it really does get easier over time as you accept the inherhent ridiculous nature of the hobby 
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In normal life making small talk can be hard. Talking to people about THINGS is MUCH easier. If you can find something to talk about the rest becomes much less “silly” in your head. I’ve been RPing for nearly 40 years, but RPing when there is nothing to talk about still makes me self-conscious.
Here’s some ice-breakers.
“Hi, I’m XXX. I’m new to Anvil. I’m looking to buy/sell some herbs/mana/fudge. Do you know anyone who may be able to help?” - I trade resources. People know I trade resources. I spend all weekend talking to people who have come to trade resources about things other than trading resources. So this really is a good one.
“Hi, I’m XXX. I’m new to Anvil. I’ve heard there are wonderful stories to be heard in Varushka. Does anyone have any good ones? But I’m afraid I’m not much of a tale spinner myself.” - People who have stories good to go love being prompted to tell them.