Calming down is not the best fix for nerves

The idea is that nerves are a problem to shut down. Slow your heart, settle your breath, and the task goes better.

The paper reports the same belief. A large majority of people believe trying to calm down is the best way.

The paper reports several studies. The tasks were karaoke singing, public speaking and math.

Some people tried to calm down. Others reappraised their nerves as excitement. To reappraise means to read the same feeling in a new way.

The new reading took very little. One way was saying "I am excited" out loud. Another was a short message: "get excited."

Compared with people who tried to calm down, people who called their nerves excitement felt more excited. They also performed better.

They were more likely to see the task as an opportunity. Their later performance improved.

The author says the match in energy matters. Nerves and excitement are both states of high energy.

The abstract does not give how many people took part, or how large the gains were. So this page does not either.

The tasks were performances, not a hard talk at home. The paper did not test The Archivist Method.

Before you can give a feeling a new name, you have to notice it. Nerves show up in the body first. You can catch that moment.

Behavioral Interception is the practice of catching an automatic pattern as it begins, intercepting its usual response, and practicing a different action until it becomes more natural.

Start with the body signal, the first physical sign, like a racing heart before you speak. Feel it and name the pattern. Then say one plain line out loud.