Before You Walk In

Nervous before an interview, a test or a game? In this article, I’ll show you a 1-minute routine, step by step, with three tools backed by research.

Have you ever felt this?

Your hands get cold, your heart starts racing, and everything you prepared disappears from your head. Have you ever felt this? I have.

I’ve spoken at events in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, New York and Brazil. And I’ll tell you a secret: the nerves don’t completely go away. What changed is what I do with them.

So in this article, I’ll share a routine I want every student to know. It takes one minute, and you can do it in the hallway.

The routine (1 minute)

Step 1: Write a win (20 seconds). Write one line about a time you were in charge or handled something well. Maybe you led a group project, trained a new teammate or took care of your younger siblings on your own. Read it again right before you go in.

Step 2: Say “I’m excited” (10 seconds). Say it out loud or in your head. Don’t tell yourself to calm down.

Step 3: Coach yourself by name (30 seconds). Talk to yourself the way a good friend would, using your own name: “Maya, you prepared for this. You know this. Go.”

Simple, right? I agree with you. But don’t skip it because it’s simple. Each step comes from a published study.

Why does it work?

• Write a win. In one study, students wrote about a time they had power before a mock admissions interview. They were 81% more likely to be accepted than students who wrote nothing (Lammers et al., 2013).
• Say “I’m excited.” Nerves and excitement feel almost the same in your body, so it’s easier to change the name than to calm down. In Harvard studies, people who said “I am excited” scored 80% on a singing task, versus 53% for people who said they were anxious. Their speeches were also rated more persuasive and confident (Brooks, 2014).
• Use your name. Research at the University of Michigan found that thinking about a stressful moment using your own name, instead of “I,” helps you control your thoughts and feelings. It’s like having a coach outside your head (Kross et al., 2014).

Did that help?

Save it on your phone

Take a screenshot of this and look at it before you walk in:

1. Read your win. 2. Say “I’m excited.” 3. “[Your name], you prepared. Go.”

Use it before an interview, a test, a game, a presentation, or before walking up to a booth at a career fair.

Two mistakes I see a lot

• Trying to calm down. Your heart is already racing. Use that energy as excitement.
• Cramming in the hallway. Your last minute is better spent on the routine than on rereading your notes.

Your turn

Write your win now, on the back of your bookmark, and keep it in your backpack. The next time your heart starts racing, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Keep going

This article is part of a series of four, one for each VW Academy bookmark:

1. How Do People See You?
2. Before You Walk In
3. Your Interview Story
4. Your 30-Second Pitch

Want to practice with me? VW Academy runs workshops for high school students on interviews, resumes and workplace skills. See our programs.

Parents: talk to us about bringing these exercises to your teen’s school.