3d • General discussion
🤯 knowledge pill #2
The High-Pressure / Low-Pressure Switch
Here’s a powerful mental switch for public speaking. It’s a two-step process: one for practice, one for performance.
Step 1: Practice Under High Pressure
When you rehearse, imagine you are speaking to the highest-stake person you can think of: a major investor, your boss's boss, or a dream client. The goal is to get your mind and body accustomed to that feeling of pressure in a safe environment.
Step 2: Perform Under Low Pressure
When it's time for the real speech (or when you're recording your homework on camera), flip the script completely.
Imagine you are talking to just one person - someone you like and feel comfortable with. Treat it as a conversation, not a performance.
Why This Mental Switch Works
This technique is a form of cognitive reframing, and it's backed by solid neuroscience.
When you shift how you interpret a situation (from "scary performance" to "friendly chat"), you engage a part of your brain called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This area is key for self-awareness and social thinking.
Activating the mPFC helps to calm down the amygdala, which is your brain's threat-detection center (Buhle et al., 2014; Denny et al., 2012).
The good news is that studies also show that reappraising performance anxiety as excitement or meaningful engagement does not only make you feel better - it actually improves your performance (Brooks, 2014).
Try This For Your Next Homework:
- Practice as if the stakes are huge.
- Talk to the camera as if you’re talking to one friendly person.
Let us know how it feels!
References
Brooks, A. W. (2014). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1144–1158.
Buhle, J. T., Silvers, J. A., Wager, T. D., Lopez, R., Onyemekwu, C., Kober, H., & Ochsner, K. N. (2014). Cognitive reappraisal of emotion: A meta-analysis of human neuroimaging studies. Cerebral Cortex, 24(11), 2981–2990.
Denny, B. T., Ochsner, K. N., Weber, J., & Wager, T. D. (2012). The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in the regulation of negative affect. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(8), 919-932.
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🤯 knowledge pill #2
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