Say I am excited instead of nervous: Brooks's Test.
When you say I am excited instead of nervous, you move to a nearby high energy state. Alison Wood Brooks found this beat trying to calm down in karaoke, speeches and maths. However, the fear did not disappear; it simply stopped being alone.
Most people pick calm, then Brooks tested it.
Brooks, at Harvard Business School, asked what you should do when anxious before a performance. In her 2014 paper, an overwhelming majority believed calming down was best. So she put that belief to an anxiety reappraisal study.
In karaoke, 113 people sang a rock song scored by a game. Those who said excited averaged 80 per cent, while calm, angry or sad averaged 69, and anxious averaged 53.
Speeches and maths gave the same answer.
In a second experiment, 140 people gave a videotaped persuasive speech. Those told to say I am excited instead of nervous or calm were rated more persuasive, competent and confident. Their speeches also ran longer. Then, in a third test, 188 people did hard maths problems. The group told to get excited scored about 8 per cent higher on average.
Why you should say I am excited instead of nervous.
Anxiety and excitement are both high energy states, while calm is a low energy one. Therefore, reaching calm means crossing the whole distance in thirty seconds. Excitement is next door, which Brooks called arousal congruency. Also, in the speech experiment, people felt more excited but not less anxious. So when you say I am excited instead of nervous, the fear stays and the fuel stays too.
Practise how to say I am excited instead of nervous.
Stand up and say "I am excited" out loud three times, as if you mean it.
Next time someone tells you to relax, note that calm may be too far to reach in time.
From the book.
That is why I think calm is the wrong target. The people who love you will probably tell you to relax before your meeting with the bank, and they mean well, but they're sending you to a place your body may not be able to reach in time. Chapter 2 showed you how the feeling you are in bends the odds you see. This is a different fear: the one that's still pounding after you've checked the odds and decided to go.
I Want to Start a Business but I'm a Coward, chapter 8: Do not calm down
Questions about say i am excited instead of nervous.
Should I say I am excited instead of nervous before a meeting?
Brooks's experiments suggest it beats trying to calm down. Because both states are high energy, excitement is easier to reach quickly.
Does saying it remove my anxiety?
No. In the speech experiment, people felt more excited but not less anxious.
How big were the karaoke differences?
Excited singers averaged 80 per cent, calm, angry or sad singers 69, and anxious singers 53. It was the same song on the same machine.
Read the whole chapter.
This lesson covers one section of chapter 8, “Do not calm down”. The book goes further, with the full evidence, the stories and every exercise.
Lessons in this chapter.
- 01 Fear and excitement feel the same: Who Names It.
- 02 Pump up song before a presentation: Why Roar.
- 03 Say I am excited instead of nervous: Brooks's Test.
- 04 Record yourself practicing a pitch: Two Takes.
- 05 Anxiety before investor pitch: Give Nerves a Job.
- 06 Traders physiological response to risk: Listen.
- 07 Rafael Nadal pre match rituals: Get Activated.
- 08 Does anxiety reappraisal really work: The Limits.