Don't try to calm down

At Harvard, researcher Alison Wood Brooks put hundreds of people through three ordeals: singing karaoke scored by a machine, giving a speech in front of a camera, and taking a timed maths test. Before starting, some had to say out loud 'I am calm'; others, 'I am excited'.

The excited ones won all three: they sang better, were more persuasive and scored higher.

The explanation is emotional mechanics. Anxiety and excitement are almost the same bodily state: high pulse, adrenaline, alertness. Calm, on the other hand, is miles away: asking your body to wind down mid-surge is swimming against the current. Changing the label, rather than the arousal, is a short step: same engine, different direction. Anxiety scans for threats; excitement scans for opportunities.

So before the interview, the presentation or the difficult call, don't fight your racing heart: it is doing its job, which is bringing you energy. Say it out loud, even if you feel ridiculous: 'I am excited; this matters to me.' It isn't self-deception. It's giving the same fuel a better destination.