Calming Your Nerves in High Stress Situations

By Jim Tonkins

Is it your turn to give a speech to everyone in your class? About to take the SAT or heading out to meet your boyfriend's mom and dad? These moments make it very important for you to know how to harness your inner strength and get calm.

Everyone has moments of nervousness, but no one wants to fail an oral exam because they were too nervous to think, or pass out when you are about to address a crowd due to stage fright. But there are techniques you can use to calm your nerves.

Sometimes you can forget to take a breath when your nerves are getting the best of you. You may be gasping for air, which is obviously getting enough breath into your body, but it isn't helping you get calm, and it's sending your system into overdrive.

Taking deep even breaths can help get you adjusted to your situation. It can also take the focus off of what you are about to do and keep you from thinking of what could go wrong.

Often we will get unnecessarily upset about the task at hand and it is impossible to stop the butterflies in our stomach. Once you have completed your speech or test, you are suddenly flooded with relief.

It might help you to calm down if you focus on the feeling of relief you will get when you are done. We all recognize that feeling, don't we? The one that comes the moment you are "all done." If you return your focus to that feeling, you can place yourself in a very calm mode before you even begin.

It is also a good idea to pep yourself up with positive talk. Try going through a list of things that make you or your speech great. Build your own ego up by reminding yourself how awesome, confident, and amazing you are. This will help you see there is not one thing to be afraid of.

Although, you may not truly feel this way about yourself, you can "fake it til you make it." Build yourself up and eventually, you will achieve those wonderful things you are telling yourself.

Calming your nerves before an important speech, test or event is an important skill to master. Follow some of these tips and you will be a master of the art in no time.