Performance Anxiety: How to Stay Calm Under Pressure
Performance anxiety, otherwise known as “stage-fright” or “choking under pressure”, is a common response to situations in which your behaviour carries heavy weight.
Many of us have been there – that moment when we need to do something that we’ve been preparing for a while – a presentation, job interview, exam, sporting competition, or some other high-stakes situation – but, right when it matters most, we don’t perform at our best. Performance anxiety, otherwise known as “stage-fright” or “choking under pressure”, is a common response to situations in which your behaviour carries heavy weight.
Often, a bad experience can lead us to avoid high-stakes situations, but there are two major problems with this avoidance: 1) sometimes we have to face these situations if we want to progress in life; and 2) avoidance takes away our opportunity to grow and improve for the future, instead keeping us stuck in fear. Managing performance anxiety effectively can come down to balancing the pressure that we put on ourselves – we often need some pressure to perform well, but not too much.
What makes performance anxiety worse?
Other than avoiding the situation altogether, there are certain responses to pressure that initially seem helpful, but end up making things worse for us — these are known as “safety behaviours”. Common safety behaviours include overpreparation or having a heightened focus on your own behaviour while performing. Overpreparation can be problematic because it can become obsessive and prevent us from paying attention to other important things in our life (such as our own self-care). Paradoxically, this obsession often leads to more anxiety on the day, because we’ve built up so much anticipation.
Overpreparation can be problematic because it can become obsessive and prevent us from paying attention to other important things in our life
Likewise, being too focused on ourselves while we are performing can distract us from important external information, and make us more likely to make mistakes. Research shows that the moment we start overthinking or second-guessing ourselves is often precisely when we screw up. Safety behaviours are a type of avoidance themselves — it’s like we’re wrapping ourselves up in padding to protect us from our fear of failure. As a consequence, we may end up believing that we need these behaviours to be successful, and we don’t get the opportunity to learn what our skills are like without them (hint: we’re often more capable than we think!)
How can I reduce performance anxiety?
To ensure that you have dedicated time to practice, without overpreparing, it can be helpful to create a preparation schedule and only practice during allocated times. To get the most out of your preparation time, try replicating the conditions of the situation as much as possible. For example, practice your speech with others listening, organise a mock interview with a friend, study for a test by setting up a space that is similar to your test environment. If you are particularly anxious, you could start with less daunting tasks and work your way up to the more nerve-racking ones – practice in front of one friend first, and then a group, for example. These activities can help you to become more comfortable with pressure.
Another useful preparation strategy, particularly when it is difficult to replicate the conditions, is to use your imagination. Research shows that visualising important events in advance can help us to manage stress and perform better on the day. Effective visualisation includes both imagining things going well for you, but also (importantly) imagining things going not so well but picturing how you will cope and get through it regardless. Outside of your preparation activities, it can be helpful to calm your mind by practicing self-care.
Research shows that visualising important events in advance can help us to manage stress and perform better on the day.
At the time when you need to perform, it can be helpful to learn strategies that take your focus away from yourself and what you’re doing – depending on the situation, you might try humming a tune, or paying attention to your pinkie toe. Focusing on other people or some aspect of your surroundings can also be useful, particularly when you need to respond to those external cues. Whatever strategy you choose, have faith that your abilities and preparation will get you through.
Staying motivated and calm
If you notice yourself avoiding certain situations or actions, it can be helpful to focus on your values – how does doing this help you to live the life you want to live? It’s okay if you feel fearful, because fear is often a signal that something is important to us, and can help with motivation and growth. However, it can be good to have some strategies ready to use for when the fear becomes too much – calming techniques like breathing and relaxation can be useful, such as those available in Mind Ease. One final piece of advice is to tell your loved ones about your upcoming important event – research shows that support from others can largely improve how we perform under pressure – plus, they’ll want to celebrate with you when you nail it!
