Study shows you can reduce public speaking anxiety by telling yourself the stress… helps

The moments right before a big speech or presentation are usually the hardest.  The stress our bodies produce is real–elevated heart rate and blood pressure, sweaty palms, dry mouth-and the discomfort can be enough to throw some off their game.  But a recent study showed that you can reduce these mental and physical anxieties by tricking your brain into reinterpreting stress signals as beneficial.  

The study put 73 adults with social anxiety disorder through an exercise where they were asked to give a short speech about themselves to a panel of judges, and heart rate and blood pressure were monitored before, during, and after the speech.  But here’s where it gets interesting:

Before beginning the test, half of the participants were randomly assigned to read information regarding the evolutionary advantages of the body’s stress response. Specifically, they were informed that “the increase in arousal [they] may feel during stress is not harmful,” and that they should “reinterpret [their] bodily signals during the upcoming public speaking task as beneficial.” They also read summaries of three psychological studies that evaluated the benefits of stress.  The other half of the participants did not undergo this “anxiety preparation” task.

Test subjects who underwent this “anxiety preparation” task were less affected both physically and mentally by the stress of the speech.  They showed a significantly more reduced cardiovascular response, and they reported feeling they had more resources to cope with the stress.  As Jeremy Jamieson, the author of the study, put it:

“Viewing one’s biological responses as beneficial will increase the ratio of perceived resources versus task demands,” says Jamieson. “Our reappraisal instructions focus on educating individuals that stress is an adaptive response.”

Learning how to interpret and adapt to feelings of stress is a great way to take control over your anxieties, rather than letting them control you.

The study was spearheaded by Jamieson at the University of Rochester and reported by NBC News online.