How to Calm Your Nerves Before a Meeting

Steps and Tools for Emotional Intelligence

Various forms of social anxiety are common in the workplace. Even highly successful people can suddenly find a particular work situation becomes a trigger for high anxiety or even panic. One such situation is the conference call or business meeting. Many people find themselves with sweaty palms and crawling skin when they are about to give a status update or give a presentation in a conference call. Even more common are the rattled nerves before a presentation.

Being overly nervous can hinder your performance and leave you with a feeling that you did poorly, even your presentation went reasonably well. If you have to white-knuckle through the experience, then your are setting yourself up for unpleasantness the next time you have to give a presentation.

One solution involves a two step process. First, you practice specific relaxation skills over time so that you don't have to learn them on the day of the call or the meeting. Second, you have some simple notes in front of you that are your cheat sheet for how to calm yourself. This results in increased emotional intelligence so that you can outsmart your rattled nerves and be at your best. In this episode, Dr. Greg Hamlin presents a quick-and-dirty audio cheat sheet for how to calm your nerves before a meeting.