How to stay calm under pressure?

Your favorite athlete closes in for a victorious win. The crowd holds its breath, and, at
the crucial moment, she misses the shot. 
That competitor just experienced the phenomenon known as "choking," where despite
months, even years, of practice, a person fails right when it matters most. Choking is
common in sports, where performance often occurs under intense pressure and
depends on key moments. And yet, performance anxiety also haunts public
speakers, contestants in spelling bees, and even world-famous musicians. Most people
intuitively blame it on their nerves, but why does being nervous undermine expert
performance? 
There are two sets of theories, which both say that primarily, choking under pressure
boils down to focus. 
First, there are the distraction theories. These suggest that performance suffers when
the mind is preoccupied with worries, doubts, or fears, instead of focusing its attention
on performing the task at hand. When relevant and irrelevant thoughts compete for the
same attention, something has to give. The brain can only process so much
information at once. 

Tasks that challenge working memory, the mental “scratch pad” we use to

temporarily store phone numbers and grocery lists, are especially vulnerable to
pressure. In a 2004 study, a group of university students were asked to perform math
problems, some easy, others more complex and memory-intensive. Half the students
completed both problem types with nothing at stake, while the others completed them
when calm and under pressure. While everyone did well on the easy problems, those
who were stressed performed worse on the more difficult, memory-intensive tasks. 
Explicit monitoring theories make up the second group of explanations for choking
under pressure. They’re concerned with how pressure can cause people to overanalyze
the task at hand. Here, the logic goes that once a skill becomes automatic, thinking
about its precise mechanics interferes with your ability to do it. 
Tasks we do unconsciously seem to be most vulnerable to this kind of choking. A
study on competitive golfers compared their performance when instructed to simply
focus on putting as accurately as possible, versus when they were primed to be
acutely aware of the mechanics of their putting stroke. Golfers usually perform this
action subconsciously, so those who suddenly tuned in to the precise details of their
own moves also became worse at making accurate shots. 

Choking may not be inevitable for everyone though. Research suggests that some are
more susceptible than others, especially those who are self-conscious, anxious, and
afraid of being judged negatively by others. 
So, how can we avoid choking when it really counts? 
First, it helps to practice under stressful conditions. In a study on expert dart
players, researchers found that those who hadn’t practiced under stress performed
worse when anxious, compared to those who had become accustomed to pressure. 
Secondly, many performers extol the virtues of a pre-performance routine, whether
it’s taking a few deep breaths, repeating a cue word, or doing a rhythmic sequence of
movements. Studies on golfing, bowling, and water polo find that short rituals can
lead to more consistent and accurate performance under pressure. 
And thirdly, researchers have shown that having an external focus on the ultimate
goal works better than an internal focus, where someone is tuned into the mechanics
of what they’re doing. A study of experienced golfers revealed that those who hit chip
shots while focused on the flight of the ball performed significantly better than those
who focused on the motion of their arms. 
So, perhaps we can modify that age-old saying: practice, under pressure, with
focus, and with that glorious end goal in sight, makes perfect. 

How to understand power?

Every day of your life, you move through systems of power that other people
made. Do you sense them? Do you understand power? Do you realize why it
matters? Power is something we are often uncomfortable talking about. That's
especially true in civic life, how we live together in community. In a democracy,
power is supposed to reside with the people, period. Any further talk about power
and who really has it seems a little dirty, maybe even evil. But power is no more
inherently good or evil than fire or physics. It just is. It governs how any form of
government works. It determines who gets to determine the rules of the game. So
learning how power operates is key to being effective, being taken seriously, and
not being taken advantage of. In this lesson, we'll look at where power comes
from, how it's exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in public
life. Let's start with a basic definition. Power is the ability to make others do what
you would have them do. Of course, this plays out in all arenas of life, from family
to the workplace to our relationships. Our focus is on the civic arena, where power
means getting a community to make the choices and to take the actions that you
want. There are six main sources of civic power. First, there's physical force and a
capacity for violence. Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a
militia, is power at its most primal. A second core source of power is
wealth. Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of
power. The third form of power is state action, government. This is the use of law
and bureaucracy to compel people to do or not do certain things. In a democracy,
for example, we the people, theoretically, give government its power through
elections. In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the threat of force, not the
consent of the governed. The fourth type of power is social norms or what other
people think is okay. Norms don't have the centralized machinery of
government. They operate in a softer way, peer to peer. They can certainly make
people change behavior and even change laws. Think about how norms around
marriage equality today are evolving. The fifth form of power is ideas. An idea,
individual liberties, say, or racial equality, can generate boundless amounts of
power if it motivates enough people to change their thinking and actions. And so
the sixth source of power is numbers, lots of humans. A vocal mass of people
creates power by expressing collective intensity of interest and by asserting
legitimacy. Think of the Arab Spring or the rise of the Tea Party. Crowds
count. These are the six main sources of power, what power is. So now, let's think
about how power operates. There are three laws of power worth examining. Law
number one: power is never static. It's always either accumulating or decaying in a
civic arena. So if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon. Law number
two: power is like water. It flows like a current through everyday life. Politics is the
work of harnessing that flow in a direction you prefer. Policymaking is an effort to
freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power. Policy is power frozen. Law
number three: power compounds. Power begets more power, and so does
powerlessness. The only thing that keeps law number three from leading to a
situation where only one person has all the power is how we apply laws one and
two. What rules do we set up so that a few people don't accumulate too much
power, and so that they can't enshrine their privilege in policy? That's the question
of democracy, and you can see each of these laws at work in any news story. Low
wage workers organize to get higher pay. Oil companies push to get a big pipeline
approved. Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry. Urban parents
demand school vouchers. You may support these efforts or not. Whether you get
what you want depends on how adept you are with power, which brings us finally
to what you can do to become more powerful in public life. Here, it's useful to think
in terms of literacy. Your challenge is to learn how to read power and write
power. To read power means to pay attention to as many texts of power as you
can. I don't mean books only. I mean seeing society as a set of texts. Don't like
how things are in your campus or city or country? Map out who has what kind of
power, arrayed in what systems. Understand why it turned out this way, who's
made it so, and who wants to keep it so. Study the strategies others in such
situations used: frontal attack or indirection, coalitions or charismatic
authority. Read so you may write. To write power requires first that you believe
you have the right to write, to be an author of change. You do. As with any kind of
writing, you learn to express yourself, speak up in a voice that's
authentic. Organize your ideas, then organize other people. Practice consensus
building. Practice conflict. As with writing, it's all about practice. Every day you
have a chance to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond. Set objectives, then
bigger ones. Watch the patterns, see what works. Adapt, repeat. This is
citizenship. In this short lesson, we've explored where civic power comes
from, how it works and what you can do to exercise it. One big question remaining
is the "why" of power. Do you want power to benefit everyone or only you? Are
your purposes pro-social or anti-social? This question isn't about strategy. It's
about character, and that's another set of lessons. But remember this: Power plus
character equals a great citizen, and you have the power to be one. 
How to boost your confidence?
When faced with a big challenge where potential failure seems to lurk at every
corner, maybe you've heard this advice before: "Be more confident." And most
likely, this is what you think when you hear it: "If only it were that simple." But what
is confidence? Take the belief that you are valuable, worthwhile, and capable, also
known as self-esteem, add in the optimism that comes when you are certain of
your abilities, and then empowered by these, act courageously to face a challenge
head-on. This is confidence. It turns thoughts into action. So where does
confidence even come from? There are several factors that impact
confidence. One: what you're born with, such as your genes, which will impact
things like the balance of neurochemicals in your brain. Two: how you're
treated. This includes the social pressures of your environment. And three: the
part you have control over, the choices you make, the risks you take, and how you
think about and respond to challenges and setbacks. It isn't possible to completely
untangle these three factors, but the personal choices we make certainly play a
major role in confidence development. So, by keeping in mind a few practical
tips, we do actually have the power to cultivate our own confidence. Tip 1: a quick
fix. There are a few tricks that can give you an immediate confidence boost in the
short term. Picture your success when you're beginning a difficult task, something
as simple as listening to music with deep bass; it can promote feelings of
power. You can even strike a powerful pose or give yourself a pep talk. Tip two:
believe in your ability to improve. If you're looking for a long-term change, consider
the way you think about your abilities and talents. Do you think they are fixed at
birth, or that they can be developed, like a muscle? These beliefs matter because
they can influence how you act when you're faced with setbacks. If you have a
fixed mindset, meaning that you think your talents are locked in place, you might
give up, assuming you've discovered something you're not very good at. But if you
have a growth mindset and think your abilities can improve, a challenge is an
opportunity to learn and grow. Neuroscience supports the growth mindset. The
connections in your brain do get stronger and grow with study and practice. It also
turns out, on average, people who have a growth mindset are more
successful, getting better grades, and doing better in the face of challenges. Tip
three: practice failure. Face it, you're going to fail sometimes. Everyone does. J.K.
Rowling was rejected by twelve different publishers before one picked up "Harry
Potter." The Wright Brothers built on history's failed attempts at flight, including
some of their own, before designing a successful airplane. Studies show that
those who fail regularly and keep trying anyway are better equipped to respond to
challenges and setbacks in a constructive way. They learn how to try different
strategies, ask others for advice, and perservere. So, think of a challenge you
want to take on, realize it's not going to be easy, accept that you'll make
mistakes, and be kind to yourself when you do. Give yourself a pep talk, stand up,
and go for it. The excitement you'll feel knowing that whatever the result, you'll
have gained greater knowledge and understanding. This is confidence. 
things for so many people? So, maybe love's just all in your head, a personal
mystery winding through your neural pathways and lighting up pleasing, natural
rewards in your nervous system. Perhaps these rewards are addictive. Perhaps
love is a temporary or permanent addiction to a person, just like a person can be
addicted to a drug. I don't mean to be edgy like some pop song. Evidence shows
that chemicals in your brain stimulated by another person can make you develop a
habit for that person. The person comes to satisfy a physiological craving, and you
want more. But then sometimes, slowly or suddenly, you don't. You've fallen out of
love, become unaddicted, for a spell. What happened? Does one develop a
tolerance or hit a limit? Why do some lovers stay addicted to each other their
entire lives? Perhaps to create new lives, to proliferate their species? Maybe love
is just human DNA's optimal method for bringing about its own replication. There
are evolutionary arguments regarding every human mating behavior, from how we
display ourselves to potential mates, to how we treat each other in relationships, to
how we raise kids. Thus, some argue that the feeling you think you feel in your
soul is just biology's way to make you continue our species. Nature has selected
you to have crushes on hotties, just like it makes monkeys have crushes on hot
monkeys, and biology marches on. But is that all love is? Or, perhaps worse, is it
just a construct, some fake concept we all convince each other to try to live up
to for a fake sense of purpose? Maybe it is a construct, but let's be more
precise about what a construct is because love is constructed from reality: Our
experiences, feelings, brain chemistry, cultural expectations, our lives. And this
edifice can be viewed through countless
dimensions: scientific, emotional, historical, spiritual, legal, or just personal. If no
two people are the same, no two people's love is the same either. So, in every
loving relationship, there's a lot to talk about and partners should be open to
that, or the relationship probably won't last. Love is always up for discussion and,
sure, under construction. So, if we can't define it, that's a good sign. It means
we're all still making it. Wait, I didn't mean, you know what I meant. 
How to improve your critical thinking?
While he loathed formal lectures, the philosopher frequently engaged friends and
strangers in lengthy conversations about morality and society. These discussions
weren’t debates, nor would Socrates offer explicit advice. In fact, the philosopher
often claimed to know nothing at all, responding to his partner's answers only with
further questions. But through this process, Socrates probed their logic, revealing
its flaws and helping both parties reach a more robust understanding. These
insightful questions made Socrates beloved by his followers. Two of his students,
Plato and Xenophon, were so inspired that they replicated their mentor’s process
in fictional dialogues. These invented exchanges provide perfect examples of what
would come to be known as the Socratic Method. In one of these fabricated
dialogues, Socrates is conversing with a young man named Euthydemus, who is
confident that he understands the nature of justice and injustice. Socrates probes
the student’s values by asking him to label actions such as lying and theft as just
or unjust. Euthydemus confidently categorizes them as injustices, but this only
prompts another question: is it just for a general to deceive or pillage a hostile
army? Euthydemus revises his assertion. He claims that these actions are just
when done to enemies, and unjust when done to friends. But Socrates isn’t
finished. He asks the young man to consider a commander lying to his troops to
boost their morale. Before long, Euthydemus is despondent. It seems that every
What is love?
 Seriously, though, what is it? What is love? A verb? A noun? A universal
truth? An ideal? A common thread of all religions? A cult? A neurological
phenomenon? There's no shortage of answers. Some are all-encompassing. It
conquers all. It's all you need. It's all there is. These are all comparisons,
though, ways of defining it by contrast, by saying it's more important than all other
things, but is it? Sure, love matters more than your standard turkey sandwich, but
does it matter more than shelter? Or sanity? Or an exceptional turkey
sandwich? No matter your answer, you're just ranking it, not defining it. Another
challenge to defining love is we often try to do so while falling into it or out of
it. Would you trust someone who just won the lottery to accurately define the
concept of currency? Or, I don't know, ask a guy to define bears while he's fending
them off? Or is romance not like winning the lottery? Are break ups not like bear
attacks? Bad comparisons? That's my point. I'm not thinking right because I'm in
love, so ha! Taking a step back, or taking a cold shower, whatever, love is
potentially the most intensely thought about thing in all of human history. And
despite centuries upon centuries of obsession, it still overwhelms us. Some say it's
a feeling, a magical emotion, a feeling for someone like you've never felt
before. But feelings are fluid, not very concrete foundation for a
definition. Sometimes you hate the person you love. Plus, come on, you've felt
feelings like it before, sort of in miniature. Your relationships with your
family shape your relationships with partners. And your love for your partner may
be in its own dynamic relationship, healthy or totally weird, with the love of your
parents and siblings. Love is also a set of behaviors we associate with the
feeling: Holding hands, kissing, hugging, public displays of
affection, dating, marriage, having kids, or just sex. But these loving actions can
be subjective or culturally relative. You may love or be someone who can't have
kids or doesn't want to, who believes in marriage but also in divorce, who's from a
culture where people don't really date the way we think of dating, or who just
doesn't want to make out on the bus. But if love is a thing that we can define, then
how can it mean opposite
Palms sweaty, heart racing, stomach in knots. You can't cry for help. Not only
is your throat too tight to breathe, but it'd be so embarrassing. No, you aren't
being stalked by a monster, you're speaking in public, a fate some deem
worse than death. 

00:25
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing; at a podium, you feel stage
fright. But at some point we've all had to communicate in front of people, so
you have to try and overcome it. 

00:37
To start, understand what stage fright is. Humans, social animals that we
are, are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten
it. Before a speech, you fret, "What if people think I'm awful and I'm an
idiot?" That fear of being seen as an awful idiot is a threat reaction from a
primitive part of your brain that's very hard to control. It's the fight or flight
response, a self-protective process seen in a range of animals, most of which
don't give speeches. 

01:04
But we have a wise partner in the study of freaking out. Charles Darwin tested
fight or flight at the London Zoo snake exhibit. He wrote in his diary, "My will
and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had
never been experienced." He concluded that his response was an ancient
reaction unaffected by the nuances of modern civilization. So, to your
conscious modern mind, it's a speech. To the rest of your brain, built up to
code with the law of the jungle, when you perceive the possible
consequences of blowing a speech, it's time to run for your life or fight to the
death. 

01:49
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates, triggers your pituitary gland to
secrete the hormone ACTH, making your adrenal gland shoot adrenaline into
your blood. Your neck and back tense up, you slouch. Your legs and hand
shake as your muscles prepare for attack. You sweat. Your blood pressure
jumps. Your digestion shuts down to maximize the delivery of nutrients and
oxygen to muscles and vital organs, so you get dry mouth, butterflies. Your
pupils dilate, it's hard to read anything up close, like your notes, but long
range is easy. That's how stage fright works. 

02:22
How do we fight it? First, perspective. This isn't all in your head. It's a natural,
hormonal, full body reaction by an autonomic nervous system on
autopilot. And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety. John Lennon played
live thousands of times. Each time he vomited beforehand. Some people are
just wired to feel more scared performing in public. 
02:43
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable, focus on what you can
control. Practice a lot, starting long before in an environment similar to the real
performance. Practicing any task increases your familiarity and reduces
anxiety, so when it's time to speak in public, you're confident in yourself and
the task at hand. Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches for hundreds of
hours, starting weeks in advance. If you know what you're saying, you'll feed
off the crowd's energy instead of letting your hypothalamus convince your
body it's about to be lunch for a pack of predators. 

03:14
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus has had millions of years more practice
than you. Just before you go on stage, it's time to fight dirty and trick your
brain. Stretch your arms up and breath deeply. This makes your
hypothalamus trigger a relaxation response. Stage fright usually hits hardest
right before a presentation, so take that last minute to stretch and breathe. 

03:32
You approach the Mic, voice clear, body relaxed. Your well-prepared speech
convinces the wild crowd you're a charismatic genius. How? You didn't
overcome stage fright, you adapted to it. And to the fact that no matter how
civilized you may seem, in part of your brain, you're still a wild animal, a
profound, well-spoken wild animal. 

Palms sweaty, heart racing, stomach in knots. You can't cry for help. Not only

is your throat too tight to breathe, but it'd be so embarrassing. No, you aren't
being stalked by a monster, you're speaking in public, a fate some deem
worse than death. 

00:25
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing; at a podium, you feel stage
fright. But at some point we've all had to communicate in front of people, so
you have to try and overcome it. 

00:37
To start, understand what stage fright is. Humans, social animals that we
are, are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten
it. Before a speech, you fret, "What if people think I'm awful and I'm an
idiot?" That fear of being seen as an awful idiot is a threat reaction from a
primitive part of your brain that's very hard to control. It's the fight or flight
response, a self-protective process seen in a range of animals, most of which
don't give speeches. 

01:04
But we have a wise partner in the study of freaking out. Charles Darwin tested
fight or flight at the London Zoo snake exhibit. He wrote in his diary, "My will
and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had
never been experienced." He concluded that his response was an ancient
reaction unaffected by the nuances of modern civilization. So, to your
conscious modern mind, it's a speech. To the rest of your brain, built up to
code with the law of the jungle, when you perceive the possible
consequences of blowing a speech, it's time to run for your life or fight to the
death. 

01:49
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates, triggers your pituitary gland to
secrete the hormone ACTH, making your adrenal gland shoot adrenaline into
your blood. Your neck and back tense up, you slouch. Your legs and hand
shake as your muscles prepare for attack. You sweat. Your blood pressure
jumps. Your digestion shuts down to maximize the delivery of nutrients and
oxygen to muscles and vital organs, so you get dry mouth, butterflies. Your
pupils dilate, it's hard to read anything up close, like your notes, but long
range is easy. That's how stage fright works. 

02:22
How do we fight it? First, perspective. This isn't all in your head. It's a natural,
hormonal, full body reaction by an autonomic nervous system on
autopilot. And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety. John Lennon played
live thousands of times. Each time he vomited beforehand. Some people are
just wired to feel more scared performing in public. 

02:43
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable, focus on what you can
control. Practice a lot, starting long before in an environment similar to the real
performance. Practicing any task increases your familiarity and reduces
anxiety, so when it's time to speak in public, you're confident in yourself and
the task at hand. Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches for hundreds of
hours, starting weeks in advance. If you know what you're saying, you'll feed
off the crowd's energy instead of letting your hypothalamus convince your
body it's about to be lunch for a pack of predators. 

03:14
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus has had millions of years more practice
than you. Just before you go on stage, it's time to fight dirty and trick your
brain. Stretch your arms up and breath deeply. This makes your
hypothalamus trigger a relaxation response. Stage fright usually hits hardest
right before a presentation, so take that last minute to stretch and breathe. 

03:32
You approach the Mic, voice clear, body relaxed. Your well-prepared speech
convinces the wild crowd you're a charismatic genius. How? You didn't
overcome stage fright, you adapted to it. And to the fact that no matter how
civilized you may seem, in part of your brain, you're still a wild animal, a
profound, well-spoken wild animal. 

Palms sweaty, heart racing, stomach in knots. You can't cry for help. Not only

is your throat too tight to breathe, but it'd be so embarrassing. No, you aren't
being stalked by a monster, you're speaking in public, a fate some deem
worse than death. 

00:25
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing; at a podium, you feel stage
fright. But at some point we've all had to communicate in front of people, so
you have to try and overcome it. 

00:37
To start, understand what stage fright is. Humans, social animals that we
are, are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten
it. Before a speech, you fret, "What if people think I'm awful and I'm an
idiot?" That fear of being seen as an awful idiot is a threat reaction from a
primitive part of your brain that's very hard to control. It's the fight or flight
response, a self-protective process seen in a range of animals, most of which
don't give speeches. 

01:04
But we have a wise partner in the study of freaking out. Charles Darwin tested
fight or flight at the London Zoo snake exhibit. He wrote in his diary, "My will
and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had
never been experienced." He concluded that his response was an ancient
reaction unaffected by the nuances of modern civilization. So, to your
conscious modern mind, it's a speech. To the rest of your brain, built up to
code with the law of the jungle, when you perceive the possible
consequences of blowing a speech, it's time to run for your life or fight to the
death. 

01:49
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates, triggers your pituitary gland to
secrete the hormone ACTH, making your adrenal gland shoot adrenaline into
your blood. Your neck and back tense up, you slouch. Your legs and hand
shake as your muscles prepare for attack. You sweat. Your blood pressure
jumps. Your digestion shuts down to maximize the delivery of nutrients and
oxygen to muscles and vital organs, so you get dry mouth, butterflies. Your
pupils dilate, it's hard to read anything up close, like your notes, but long
range is easy. That's how stage fright works. 

02:22
How do we fight it? First, perspective. This isn't all in your head. It's a natural,
hormonal, full body reaction by an autonomic nervous system on
autopilot. And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety. John Lennon played
live thousands of times. Each time he vomited beforehand. Some people are
just wired to feel more scared performing in public. 

02:43
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable, focus on what you can
control. Practice a lot, starting long before in an environment similar to the real
performance. Practicing any task increases your familiarity and reduces
anxiety, so when it's time to speak in public, you're confident in yourself and
the task at hand. Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches for hundreds of
hours, starting weeks in advance. If you know what you're saying, you'll feed
off the crowd's energy instead of letting your hypothalamus convince your
body it's about to be lunch for a pack of predators. 

03:14
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus has had millions of years more practice
than you. Just before you go on stage, it's time to fight dirty and trick your
brain. Stretch your arms up and breath deeply. This makes your
hypothalamus trigger a relaxation response. Stage fright usually hits hardest
right before a presentation, so take that last minute to stretch and breathe. 

03:32
You approach the Mic, voice clear, body relaxed. Your well-prepared speech
convinces the wild crowd you're a charismatic genius. How? You didn't
overcome stage fright, you adapted to it. And to the fact that no matter how
civilized you may seem, in part of your brain, you're still a wild animal, a
profound, well-spoken wild animal. 

Palms sweaty, heart racing, stomach in knots. You can't cry for help. Not only

is your throat too tight to breathe, but it'd be so embarrassing. No, you aren't
being stalked by a monster, you're speaking in public, a fate some deem
worse than death. 

00:25
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing; at a podium, you feel stage
fright. But at some point we've all had to communicate in front of people, so
you have to try and overcome it. 

00:37
To start, understand what stage fright is. Humans, social animals that we
are, are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten
it. Before a speech, you fret, "What if people think I'm awful and I'm an
idiot?" That fear of being seen as an awful idiot is a threat reaction from a
primitive part of your brain that's very hard to control. It's the fight or flight
response, a self-protective process seen in a range of animals, most of which
don't give speeches. 

01:04
But we have a wise partner in the study of freaking out. Charles Darwin tested
fight or flight at the London Zoo snake exhibit. He wrote in his diary, "My will
and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had
never been experienced." He concluded that his response was an ancient
reaction unaffected by the nuances of modern civilization. So, to your
conscious modern mind, it's a speech. To the rest of your brain, built up to
code with the law of the jungle, when you perceive the possible
consequences of blowing a speech, it's time to run for your life or fight to the
death. 
 01:49
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates, triggers your pituitary gland to
secrete the hormone ACTH, making your adrenal gland shoot adrenaline into
your blood. Your neck and back tense up, you slouch. Your legs and hand
shake as your muscles prepare for attack. You sweat. Your blood pressure
jumps. Your digestion shuts down to maximize the delivery of nutrients and
oxygen to muscles and vital organs, so you get dry mouth, butterflies. Your
pupils dilate, it's hard to read anything up close, like your notes, but long
range is easy. That's how stage fright works. 

02:22
How do we fight it? First, perspective. This isn't all in your head. It's a natural,
hormonal, full body reaction by an autonomic nervous system on
autopilot. And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety. John Lennon played
live thousands of times. Each time he vomited beforehand. Some people are
just wired to feel more scared performing in public. 

02:43
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable, focus on what you can
control. Practice a lot, starting long before in an environment similar to the real
performance. Practicing any task increases your familiarity and reduces
anxiety, so when it's time to speak in public, you're confident in yourself and
the task at hand. Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches for hundreds of
hours, starting weeks in advance. If you know what you're saying, you'll feed
off the crowd's energy instead of letting your hypothalamus convince your
body it's about to be lunch for a pack of predators. 

03:14
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus has had millions of years more practice
than you. Just before you go on stage, it's time to fight dirty and trick your
brain. Stretch your arms up and breath deeply. This makes your
hypothalamus trigger a relaxation response. Stage fright usually hits hardest
right before a presentation, so take that last minute to stretch and breathe. 

03:32
You approach the Mic, voice clear, body relaxed. Your well-prepared speech
convinces the wild crowd you're a charismatic genius. How? You didn't
overcome stage fright, you adapted to it. And to the fact that no matter how
civilized you may seem, in part of your brain, you're still a wild animal, a
profound, well-spoken wild animal. 

Overcome stage fright

a supermarket here we buy almost
everything we need in our day-to-day
lives our decisions on what to buy are
based on taste quality and price but
what you might not know is that the
decisions we make can have a significant
impact Fairtrade products vastly improve
the working and living conditions of
families in developing countries but how
does Fairtrade even work let's take this
pack of coffee as an example coffee is
one of the most important agricultural
products on the global market and it
goes on a long journey before it ends up
on our store shelves for the over 30
million coffee farmers around the world
the coffee we buy means a lot of hard
work at the same time they earn very
little money from it this is due to
speculation in financial markets and
little to no influence on the pricing of
the product as well as unstable yields
caused by changes in temperature and
climate coffee farmers are powerless in
the face of the free market
Fairtrade seeks to change that Fairtrade
coffee farmers don't work alone they are
members of cooperatives and organized
democratically there are many advantages
to this system the farmers know the true
value of their product which makes it
far easier for them to negotiate prices
they have access to credit and are able
to learn from each other through a
constant exchange of information a
central component of the Fairtrade
system is the minimum price which is the
minimum that farmers organizations are
paid when selling their products through
fair trade additionally producer
organizations receive the Fairtrade
premium it is up to the farmers and
workers to decide how to use the premium
they might build wells and hospitals I
better farming equipment or invest in
switching to organic farming having a
stable income can drastically improve a
whole families opportunities at the same
time it minimizes the risk of
exploitative child labor the environment
benefits from fair
to preserving natural habitats and the
climate of key aspects of fair trade the
use of genetically modified organisms is
forbidden and water is used as sparingly
as possible the Fairtrade standards are
the requirements that producers and the
businesses who buy their goods have to
follow they are developed by Fairtrade
international in consultation with
producers businesses and all members of
the Fairtrade system Fairtrade producers
have a 50% say in all key decisions made
our independent certification body low
cert checks and monitors that the
Fairtrade standards are being met now
back to our pack of coffee after being
harvested and dried the beans are
transported to processors who roast
prepare and repackage the coffee for
sale coffee is the most well known fair
trade product however there is a huge
range of Fairtrade products available
from bananas ice creams rice cocoa sugar
herbs honey dried fruits and nuts to
fruit juices tea and wine even flowers
cotton and sports balls can be Fairtrade
certified there are over 30,000
Fairtrade products on sale in more than
125 countries worldwide in supermarkets
cafes restaurants and even trains and
planes so now it's over to you in your
daily shopping look for the Fairtrade
mark and choose products that change
lives for over 1.5 million farmers and
workers worldwide Fairtrade the power is
in your hands
you