{"id":861,"date":"2018-11-30T10:44:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T10:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/performing-well-under-pressure\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T17:32:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T16:32:05","slug":"performing-well-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/performing-well-under-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Important Lessons On Performing Well Under Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

7 Important Lessons On Performing Well Under Pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Almost everyone feels pressure before giving a presentation.<\/p>\n

You might be nervous about speaking in front of others. Or, you could be worried about your information\u00a0actually sticking<\/em>\u00a0with your audience.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the cause, anxiety before giving a big talk can be detrimental to your actual performance.<\/p>\n

But there\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0things you can do to avoid these effects.<\/p>\n

What your brain really needs to perform well under pressure is to have its three major parts managed well.<\/h2>\n

That means paying attention to how you\u2019re handling your logical mind, your emotional mind, and your instinctive mind.<\/p>\n

For example, we might know logically what we\u2019re\u00a0supposed<\/em>\u00a0to do in a meeting, but in the heat of the moment, it\u2019s the emotional mind, survival instincts, and habits that take over.<\/p>\n

So the key thing is to manage all three areas of your mind so they\u2019re able to work together when the pressure comes in.<\/p>\n

Here are a few simple ways you can do that:<\/p>\n

1. VISUALIZE THE EVENT FROM START TO FINISH<\/span><\/h3>\n

First things first \u2014 imagine logically how everything will go to get you the perfect result.<\/p>\n

Walk through the event from start to finish in your mind, from entering the front door to walking away triumphant. Imagine staying calm and composed even if things go wrong or you get difficult questions.<\/p>\n

Then ask yourself \u2014 what do I need to do between now and the event in order to be fully prepared for success? Create a plan to accomplish your desired goal. This will put your logical mind nicely at ease.<\/p>\n

I do this myself.<\/p>\n

At least two weeks before an important event, I start visualizing\u00a0exactly<\/span>\u00a0what I want to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I do it over and over again so that it becomes natural for my mind to be heading in that direction.<\/p>\n

2. MAKE PRESENTING A HABIT<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s often said in the theater: \u201cAmateurs practice until they get it right, but professionals practice until they can\u2019t get it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean you practice something over and over until it becomes robotic. You don\u2019t need to say exactly the same words and make the same movements every time.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re delivering a pitch or a presentation, you need to practice delivering it in an engaging, natural way.<\/p>\n

By doing this, you will create muscle memory so that when you feel pressure, you\u2019re able to instinctively deliver your presentation the way you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had to rely on this myself sometimes \u2014 when technology fails, I get caught in bad traffic, or the client arrives feeling stressed out and my monkey mind starts to worry.<\/p>\n

My mind is feeling under pressure, but I\u2019m able to fall back into that instinctive habit of speaking calmly, professionally, and in an engaging way.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simply about creating a great, reliable habit.<\/p>\n

3. PRACTICE MANAGING YOUR MONKEY MIND<\/span><\/h3>\n

I talk a lot about your \u201cmonkey mind\u201d and how it\u2019s crucial that you learn to soothe it, if you want to perform at your best in critical moments.<\/p>\n

Your monkey mind is simply the part of your brain that wants to keep you safe. It wants you to survive, so it tries to talk you out of doing anything it perceives as \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might perceive public speaking as dangerous because it\u2019s scary and unknown, so you have to ease it\u2019s anxieties.<\/p>\n

You can try meditation apps or controlled breathing exercises to do this.<\/p>\n

I advise a breathing pattern that lowers your heart beat and removes adrenaline from your body. I call this \u20185552\u2019. You breathe in for a count of five, hold for five, and breathe out for five, then hold for two.<\/p>\n

4. GO FOR A WALK ON THE BIG DAY<\/span><\/h3>\n

On the day of an event, I encourage people to go out for a good long walk or even a short run.<\/p>\n

I do this every day because it helps my body and mind wake up and gets my blood flowing. Blood flow is good for your ability to think clearly, and it helps to prime your mind for success.<\/p>\n

I also always arrive early for an important event, so I reduce any pressure from time constraints.<\/p>\n

During a talk, to avoid the monkey mind shutting down and getting me to rush out of the situation, I just remind myself how I want things to end, creating a clear picture or sensation of enjoying the ending and gaining great feedback.<\/p>\n

5. TAKE THE FOCUS OFF OF YOURSELF<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re feeling anxiety, chances are you\u2019re focusing on yourself, not on other people.<\/p>\n

So instead, think about the audience and realize that the pitch, the presentation, the speech \u2014 it\u2019s not really about you.<\/p>\n

Your presentation is all about the other person.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Turn your focus on them, and you\u2019ll start to notice things you hadn\u2019t before.<\/p>\n

Anything you notice can help your mind start to think much more about them, much less about you, and the self consciousness will start to disappear.<\/p>\n

6. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR EXHALES<\/span><\/h3>\n

You may have heard the advice that to calm down you should just \u201ctake a deep breath!\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t work, because this makes people breathe in to their upper chest, which increases a feeling of tension and anxiety.<\/p>\n

What you need to do, if you\u2019ve got anxiety, heart palpitations, or a quivering voice, is to focus on breathing\u00a0out<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in an interview situation where someone\u2019s asking you tough questions, silently focus on breathing outwards. Just push the air out.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re delivering slides or a pitch, in between slides just push the air out of your body, and then relax.<\/p>\n

It will allow you to start diaphragmatic breathing, which will calm your heart rate and keep your voice calm.<\/p>\n

7. STAND STRONG<\/span><\/h3>\n

Finally, one extra thing you can do in the moment is to stand strong.<\/p>\n

When people have adrenaline pumping, as frequently happens with public speaking, they tend to want to move around a lot. They\u2019ll move their arms if they\u2019re sitting down or they\u2019ll tap their foot up and down. They might start to walk around for no reason and with no direction.<\/p>\n

If you want to settle the adrenaline, it\u2019s much better to focus on stillness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stillness tells your body, \u201cAh, we must be in a calm, safe situation.\u201d It starts to shift away from the anxiety and moves toward a feeling of being settled.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how we can help you please\u00a0contact our team<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost everyone feels pressure before giving a presentation.<\/p>\n

You might be nervous about speaking in front of others. Or, you could be worried about your information actually sticking with your audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop Tips On Performing Well Under Pressure | Body Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read our top seven lessons on how to perform well under pressure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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