Stage fright: calm down or get excited?
The usual advice is to calm down. A series of experiments suggests another strategy.
The experiments
Alison Wood Brooks (2014, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General) shows participants who said 'I am excited' before a speech outperformed those told to calm down.
The proposed mechanism
Anxiety and excitement share high arousal; shifting between them may be easier than suppressing arousal.
The nuance
Lab studies with modest samples; repeated workplace effects are not established. (our executive and employee training programmes)
The limit of common practice
Telling someone to 'relax' right before speaking — hard to apply.
A practical check in Lausanne
Over six talks, alternate 'calm down' and 'I'm excited', and have a colleague rate clarity blind to the instruction. To go further: explore the Public Speaking & Impact training in Lausanne, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
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