While most of us may never experience the stress of addressing a nation on the brink of invasion, we’ve all experienced the pressure to perform at our best when the stakes are high.

In the film The Darkest Hour, Winston Churchill, as played by Academy Award winner Gary Oldman, is called upon to offer an unwavering image of confidence under the most dire of conditions. Despite the enormous stakes, he didn't let his fear of failure consume him. Instead, he showed up to the podium time and time again, so that in the country's darkest hour he did not falter.

Nearly all of us dislike the discomfort that comes with being on the spot, so we often avoid putting ourselves in those situations. Instead of avoiding adrenaline, we highly suggest that you practice managing nervousness on a consistent basis so that you become adept at bringing it under control.

Since one of the best ways to develop authentic confidence is through a "series of small wins," our BOSS Checklist is a great resource for learning how to trust yourself under pressure. It gives you a series of progressively more challenging communication tasks so that you can practice flexing your courage muscle and be ready to succeed when it counts.

Job interviews can be anxiety producing—especially when one includes a panel interview. Suddenly, you find yourself sitting across the table from any number of potential managers and other colleagues.

In these situations, expected or otherwise, the goal is the same: Present yourself at your best. A Fast Company article, which originally appeared on Glassdoor.com, examines a number of “basics” that you don’t want to overlook in any such situation.

It’s no secret that we at SpeechSkills believe strongly in the power of developing confident, credible body language. However, the true test of your communication prowess is how you interact with others. People who have enough inner discipline to take their focus off of themselves and give their full attention to their listeners—even in an interview—distinguish themselves as truly exceptional communicators.

Check out the full article and its nine interaction reminders that, put into practice, will make you stand out every time—no matter the circumstances.

We often tell workshop participants that people pay outrageous prices to spend the day at the amusement park for the same adrenaline rush that they get for free, simply by becoming the focus of attention. Reframing the rush from “I’m nervous” to “I’m excited” is a great way to cultivate more confidence and improve performance.

No wonder we love this Atlantic article in which writer Olga Khazan explores the idea of turning anxiety-producing experiences into successful moments. Not only is the piece written with good-natured humor, but also, we firmly believe in the approach it advocates for dealing with anxiety. A simple technique called “anxiety reappraisal” helps people channel their nervous energy into an “opportunity mindset”—leading to greater success in all of their face-to-face interactions.

So much of what we do at SpeechSkills is about personal growth. We actively challenge you to break out of habits that undercut your credibility and to “flex your courage muscle." After all, bravery isn’t only required for heroic actions, like taking control of an airplane when a pilot becomes incapacitated or beating off a shark to save a child, it's also necessary for speaking in front of an audience with confidence, engaging a stranger at a party, or asking your boss for a raise. Seemingly ordinary acts often call us to be extraordinarily brave.

Caroline Paul’s TED Talk on raising brave girls and encouraging adventure, resonates with us at SpeechSkills for several reasons. We share Caroline's passion for empowering women to cultivate confidence and take on more leadership roles. We also firmly believe in the power of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to build resilience and learn to trust yourself. And finally, Caroline points out something we say at all of our workshops: "fear and exhilaration feel very similar" — the shaky hands, the racing heart, the nervous tension-- if you start to frame your symptoms of nervousness as symptoms of excitement, you slowly but surely begin welcoming these kinds of experiences instead of resisting them. Caroline calls this type of behavior practicing your bravery-- turning your fear into a dare and going for it.

Check out Caroline's video and then ask yourself, how will you practice being brave today?

In the Sunday, July 21st Parade magazine, I was intrigued by an interview with Bill Hader, costar of Saturday Night Live for eight seasons. He was especially frank about his feelings of nervousness when the interviewer asked him if he was relieved to no longer be taping the live show:

"Yes! There was never one time I wasn't shaking before the show and thinking, 'What have I gotten myself into?' I was always nervous. But the minute it would end, I'd think, 'I want to do that again.'"

In workshops, I often compare the experience of nervousness to riding a roller coaster. It's interesting how perfectly Bill Hader's words correlate to that analogy. Imagine how empowering it might be if, when faced with an adrenalin-inducing moment, you could frame that nervous feeling as thrilling anticipation rather than fearful anxiety. A simple word change might make all the difference. In the future, try switching your internal dialogue from "I'm so nervous" to "I'm so excited!"

Additionally, it's important to remember that your level of nervousness doesn't need to dictate your level of performance. Many people at the very top of their industries - Oscar winners, Olympic medalists, Fortune 500 CEOs - have confessed to feeling nervousness in their defining moments. Keep in mind, nervousness is less a commentary on your expertise, and more a natural, hard-wired reaction to being in the spotlight. Embrace the thrill.

A study by psychologists at Columbia and Harvard found that changing your posture alters your hormone levels. When measuring hormone levels, research showed that volunteers who took on dominant postures had increased testosterone and lower cortisol levels. In contrast, volunteers who took on low status postures had lower testosterone and increased cortisol levels.

According to the study, "by simply changing physical posture, an individual prepares his or her mental and physiological systems to endure difficult and stressful situations, and perhaps to actually improve confidence and performance in situations such as interviewing for jobs, speaking in public, disagreeing with a boss, or taking potentially profitable risks. These findings suggest that, in some situations requiring power, people have the ability to 'fake it 'til they make it.' "

Dear Cara,

I have trouble in client meetings when we go around the room to introduce ourselves. I feel a lot of anxiety waiting for my turn, and when it finally arrives, I'm so nervous that I bumble through it. I end up frustrated with myself because I know I can do better. Any suggestions would be welcome. Y.B.

Dear Y.B.,

Believe it or not, your problem is very common. There are probably several people around the same table who are nervous about those introductions, even your clients. One of the first things to keep in mind is that 90% of the symptoms of nervousness are not visible from the outside -- the racing heart, the adrenalin, the sweaty palms, the clouded thinking. As uncomfortable as it is, it's a personal experience and not a public one.

However, here are a few things that might help you to feel more comfortable:

• Breathe. Actively breathe into your belly area as the introductions get closer to you. When adrenalin hits, we go from relaxed abdominal breathing to thoracic breathing, or ribcage breathing. Your body is preparing you to fight or flee. You need to actively get your breathing back into the belly area to send a signal to your body that you are not under threat.
• Keep your focus on the other speakers. The more you focus on yourself, the more self-conscious you become. Actively listen to the speakers before you.
• Practice your elevator pitch. Why should introducing yourself be an impromptu moment? Create a two-sentence introduction that describes who you are and your role in your company. Practice it so that you can easily deliver it with a strong voice, eyes up, and free of uhs or ums.
• Go to a few networking meetings so that you can practice introducing yourself. Just walking around and shaking hands will help, but often networking groups have everyone stand and introduce themselves in front of the whole group. This will certainly desensitize you to the more intimate client meetings.

When your moment in the spotlight comes (high-stakes proposal, important interview, big presentation) it's important to be intentional about using your best communication skills. But over-thinking it can cause self-consciousness and brainfreeze. What's the happy medium? The One-Word Mantra. Instead of giving yourself a list of things to concentrate on, choose a single word that sums up what you want to accomplish ("Relax" "Connect" "Energize").

The February/March 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind, quotes studies that show that athletes who give themselves detailed instructions ("keep ski tips high" and "keep body streamlined" for a ski jumper, for example) are more likely to choke under pressure than those athletes who rely on a single word (such as "smooth").

So, while it's a mistake to give NO attention to your communication style, don't burden yourself with too many instructions. "Simplify."