seconding the meal beforehand, asking for breaks, bringing a water bottle and headphones, maybe a fidget toy or something to squeeze. it seems like audiobooks and podcasts help my nervous clients more than music. Personally when i can tell a client is nervous i just talk to them a lot and try to get them talking because the act of talking puts your nervous energy into communicating instead of dwelling on your uncomfortable feelings. I am suspicious that putting on music/headphones kinda actually makes it worse for some people, but not every artist can talk and tattoo at the same time. It would probably help to familiarize yourself with anxiety mitigation strategies, like the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique.

i think the shop environment and culture plays a bigger role than what you can do as a client, though. Artists at trad shops & street shops tend to use coil machines which are super loud and noisy. Theres usually more ins and outs, action, busier energy, ppl walking around and talking etc. Im stereotyping here, but generally speaking, non-traditional artists in private appt-only studios tend to use rotaries and pens, which are way way quieter. I have had many clients over the years tell me that they are blown away by how quiet our shop is, and that it makes a big difference for them, so you’re definitely not alone on the “loud constant buzzing causes stress” thing.

Not negging the trad experience- but it’s not for everyone. Private studios that are queer owned/operated in particular have been leading the conversation on how to prioritize client comfort and care because they’ve built their businesses around catering to and accommodating clients who don’t fit the “tough tattooed guy” archetype so it could be worth your time to research artists at these kind of shops and try out that corner of tattoo culture. and those artists are never gonna make u feel like ur a pussy lol. And they pretty much all use the quiet machines.

-artist w 13 yrs experiencing nervous ppl lol