Performing Under Pressure (Cue the music!)

Tip – Being well drilled is the only option. Practise the drill, stick to the drill, visualise the drill.

Cue the music theme tune for today… Under Pressure… by Queen (see below).

After witnessing the penalty shoot-out between England and Italy – arhhhh, it reminded me of my high-pressure moments of public speaking, stage fright, and going live at the BBC.?

The mental stress it has on the mind and body far outweighs your technical ability!?

I mean, can you imagine the pressure of taking those penalties??It’s got very little to do with football technique and everything to do with mental strength and experience!??

As a live producer at the BBC, I remember many, many high-pressure moments.?One time Cliff Richard got stuck on a plane and was an hour late for his own live show! I could have had an anxiety attack, but experience got me through it.?

One of my biggest strengths (now I can appreciate it, I didn’t back then) was to be completely calm when live on air. However, it took 100s of shows to get comfortable with the pressure.??

The first time the red ‘on air’ light came on in the BBC studio and we went LIVE – I nearly fainted and vomited with stress.?

My mind went fuzzy, I had an out of body experience, I felt completely out of control, my brain flipped into fight, flight, freeze mode and I temporarily froze.?However, luckily everything around me carried on like clockwork and we didn’t get cut off!?Phew.??

After a few weeks (that’s more than 40 live shows later) I didn’t feel that same adrenaline rush anymore and I could focus focus focus on the content, the mood, the vibe and relax into it.?

The secret to high pressure environments is practise and knowing the drill. But above all, it's experience.??

You can’t learn experience – you have to go through it yourself.?Practising behind the scenes is not the same as real-life high-pressure moments.?

So why, oh why, would you choose very young football players like 19-year-old Saka to take on the penalty shoot-out in the final of most the important football match of the century??

It’s crazy! Those poor young men were lambs to the slaughter.??

I loved the stories from Gary Lineker’s BBC pundit guests (I’m no football expert).?

Rio Ferdinand:

“I remember taking a penalty and my legs turned to jelly – I couldn’t feel them”?

Alan Shearer:

“You need experience for that type of pressure – you have your penalty drilled into your mind – you don’t change your plan.?I remember making myself look at the opposite corner of the goal to fool the goalkeeper, then lobbing the ball into the other corner.?…

…You’ve got to be totally drilled, it’s a horrible situation to be in for those young lads.”

What tips do you have for high pressure moments? Have you survived a ‘make it or break it’ moment yourself??

I’d love to hear from you.?[email protected]?

#CareerSuccess #UnderPressure #Confidence #Impact #Oomph #Leadership