Say Excited, Not Calm
Use arousal reappraisal to turn pre-presentation anxiety into task-ready energy.
The move: turn the spike into readiness. Trying to calm down before a high-stakes presentation can backfire because calm is a low-arousal target. Your body may already be mobilized: faster heart, sharper attention, warmer hands. Brooks' arousal reappraisal work points to a more workable move: reinterpret the same activation as excitement or readiness. Breathe first A box breath gives attention a concrete track. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold. If four counts feels too long in the hallway, use two or three. The point is to interrupt shallow breathing and create enough space to choose the next sentence. Change the meaning Say…
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