Rephrase Nervousness As Agitation Before Making a Loud Speech

There are many great ways to calm your nerves before you hit the spotlight, but it can also help change how you feel instead of trying to suppress it.

A recent study by Alison Wood Brooks of Harvard Business School and published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that a simple mindset change can help you use your own nerves to your advantage. In the study, participants who said they were excited rather than nervous were perceived to be more persuasive and competent during their presentations. The researchers explain that nervousness and arousal are states of high arousal, so you can manipulate your mind-body connection to make what you feel appears to be positive. Basically, your mind is tricking your body by switching circuits. By verbally acknowledging your feelings as arousal, you can use this nervous energy instead of fighting it. You are not trembling because you are anxious, you are trembling because you are anxious to say what you want to say.

Excited: Overestimating Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement | The Journal of Experimental Psychology through Inc.

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