Trying to relax before giving a public speech could be the wrong strategy; new research suggests getting excited is more effective at calming nerves.
"Anxiety is incredibly pervasive. People have a very strong intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult and ineffective," study author Alison Wood Brooks, PhD, of Harvard Business School, said in an American Psychological Association news release. "When people feel anxious and try to calm down, they are thinking about all the things that could go badly. When they are excited, they are thinking about how things could go well."
The study found statements of excitement could help reduce nerves in anxiety-triggering situations.
A research team asked 63 men and 77 women to prepare a speech on why they would be good work partners. The researchers made the situation more nerve-wracking by videotaping it and claiming it would be judged by a committee.
The participants were instructed to either say "I am excited," or "I am calm" before delivering their speech. The researchers found the study subjects that expressed excitement before their speech were more likely to be persuasive and relaxed during delivery.
"The way we talk about our feelings has a strong influence on how we actually feel," Brooks, said.
In another experiment 80 men and 108 women were asked to tackle complicated math problems after reading either the words "try to get excited" or "try to remain calm." A control group worked on the math problem without reading a motivational prompt. The "excited group" scored an average of eight percent higher than the "calm" and control groups; they also reported feeling less anxiety during the task.
"When you feel anxious, you're ruminating too much and focusing on potential threats," Brooks said. "In those circumstances, people should try to focus on the potential opportunities. It really does pay to be positive, and people should say they are excited. Even if they don't believe it at first, saying 'I'm excited' out loud increases authentic feelings of excitement."
