some silly fears

ceccia · Jan 16, 2014

i can tell you what works for me as far as performance anxiety (presentations, job interviews, etc.) Pretend you're a celebrity guest on a late-night talk show, your professor is Craig Ferguson, and your classmates are the studio audience. this might sound silly, and might not work for everyone, but it works for me. 'act as if', and it sets up a whole different mentality - you're not being judged, you're running the show! your 'studio audience' is on the edge of their seats and can't wait to see how you, the expert , put that equipment together. Everyone's listening with rapt attention to hear what you have to say next.

Get into it and have fun with it, and you might find yourself not taking it so seriously, which will make you more relaxed and less uptight and thus, less likely to make a mistake. Of course if you do make a mistake and start putting something together the wrong way, you're a charming celebrity for the next ten minutes, remember? What would Alton Brown do if one of his gadgets failed during a cooking segment on Conan? Acknowledge the mistake and move on with confidence and your audience will too.

another thing to try if anxiety causes you to rush and look flustered - challenge yourself to go as slowly as possible. THAT is the goal and your main focus, nothing else. Move as slowly as possible. When you allow yourself to do that, you'll find more brain-space for thinking about each step of the activity you're doing and will be able to pace yourself better and look like you're in control.

best of luck with your presentation!

codeblue222 · Jan 16, 2014

Ceccia - that is such an interesting way of putting it. I'm totally going to try that!

I didn't get nervous when practicing skills for my CNA certificate , probably because I would talk to the "patient" kind of explaining the process as I went. But when it comes to interviews off presentations I am a total wreck.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2014

Recent research just released shows that telling yourself you're "excited" (rather than "terrified" or "worried") improves performance significantly.

So there you go-- "Good morning! I am excited to be here!" and you're good.

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 16, 2014

well, it happened. skills lab for IV starts. of course i misplaced my j loop, and couldn't find my bandaid. oh well at least i did impressive enough to not have to do a return-demo

im pretty good with talking to patients and doing presentations. i try to do it like im holding a conversation. i prepare less, and improvise 'on the fly' more to keep it lucid and keep my thoughts fresh. if you make a mistake of something too reheorificed, its often hard to find your place.

another trick i learned was to only make eye contact with people that are actively giving you cues--nods, smiles, the things that let you know theyre really listening. other than that i look in the seats in between where people are sitting so it appears that im actually engaging the audience when im really not xD teachers love it.

the only bump i hit when it comes to patients is when they ask me questions about their condition. specifically, conditions that aren't well. i was asked in the er once by a guy who wondered about his blood pressure. i didnt want to alarm him, but we were all thinking he had a stroke or TIA...and i didnt know how to answer him that his 190/110 was definitely NOT ok without causing him to think that he was on the verge of dying. im still working on ways to relay the seriousness of certain matters without making the patients uneasy and scared. i usually defer it by just explaining why its abnormal and a set of tests we'll do to confirm "if anything is wrong".

but ill try to hold as casual a conversation with a patient as possible so it feels less like theyre in a hospital environment and more like a simple checkup with a long time family doc or something. they often respond well to this, and thus puts me at ease as well.

friendlyjane · Jan 16, 2014

Great ideas.