8 things every person should do before 8 a.m. to be successful

8 things every part should do before 8 a.m. to be successful8 things every person should do before 8 a.m. to be successfulWe would rather be ruined than changedWe would rather die in ur dreadThan climb the cross of the momentAnd let our illusions die. - W. H. AudenMost peoples lives are a reflection of their past, rather than their future.For most people, today will look quite similar to tomorrow. 2019 will look similar to 2018.Most peoples lives are highly predictable. And theres a very good reason.Your brain is quite literally a prediction machinedesigned to keep you from situations and scenarios filled with uncertainty and possibility of failure.FollowLadders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard coveringHappiness,Productivity,Job Satisfaction,Neuroscience, andmoreAccording to several psychologists,the foundation of all fears is the unknown.We want our lives to be predictable. We dont want to deal with the intense emotions involved in doing something new and different .Trying something new and attempting to change your life will, without a doubt, cause anxiety. But according to the philosopher, Sren Kierkegaard,To venture causes anxiety, but bedrngnis to venture is to lose ones self. Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.In order to move forward in your life, youll need to embrace difficulty and uncertainty - or what you might typically consider anxiety which Kierkegaard called the dizziness of freedom.Embracing a bigger future is how you change. And according to Albert Einstein,The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.The only way to change is to stop explaining your life by your past and to abflug explaining your life based on your future.You get to design your life and your future. But in order to do so, you must stop living from your past.Today cant be the same as what happened yesterday.The food you ate today, if you really want to get healthy, probably cant be what you ate yesterday.Stop repeating the past.Rather than repeating t he behavior of your past, you need to act today based on the life you want to have tomorrow.If youwait for tomorrowto start acting how you should today, then you really are just repeating yesterday. As Professor Harold Hill has said - You pile up enough tomorrows, and youll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.Developing Confidence And Changing Your LifeYou cannot have confidence in your life without positively moving forward toward a bigger and better future.If youre days, weeks, and years are a repeating of the past, then youre not confident.Living a comfortable and predictable life is actually a clear reflection of your lack of confidence.You can only have confidence after youve begun living a better life - and then, that confidence allows you to think bigger about what is possible.Confidence is the byproduct of prior success. This is one of the reasons it is completely essential that you begin your morning with a routine.The purpose of a morning routine is to get yourself moving toward your grand and exciting future. If you dont have an exciting future that youre working toward, then you are literally stuck in the past. And when stuck in the past, you cannot change your life, but only repeat the patterns that got you here.When you repeat the patterns that got you here, youll have a lot of empty yesterdays.When you start the day in a higher and more powerful way, youll immediately begin turning your future a different direction from your past.With this short morning routine, your life will quickly change.It may seem like a long list. But in short, its really quite simpleWake upGet confidence and motivationGet inspired and connectedGet perspectiveGet movingAct courageouslyMove powerfully toward your dreamsPut the right food in your bodyLets begin1. Get A Healthy 7+ Hours of SleepThe National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted surveys revealing that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders. Not only t hat, 60 percent of adults, and 69 percent of children, experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month - with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more.On the flip side, getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked toIncreased memoryLonger lifeDecreased inflammationIncreased creativityIncreased attention and focusDecreased fat and increased muscle mass with exerciseLower stressDecreased dependence on stimulants like caffeineDecreased risk of getting into accidentsDecreased risk of flauteAnd tons more google it.The very act of waking up earlier will create an enormous sense of motivation in your life.Like confidence, motivation is the byproduct of action. You cant be motivated without taking positive steps forward toward a desired future.As Harvard psychologist, Jerome Bruner sa id, Youre more likely to act yourself into feeling than feeling yourself into action.Waking up early has the power of making you psychologically bulletproof.If you wake up early and - rather than getting sucked into the distraction of your smartphone or the addiction to stimulants - you start vividly imagining your desired future and boldly acting toward that future.Motivation is something you must create every day. You can only be motivated if youre moving forward.2. Prayer and Meditation to Facilitate Clarity and AbundanceWhen you change the way you see things, the things you see change. - Dr. Wayne DyerAfter waking from a healthy and restful sleep session, prayer and meditation are crucial for orienting yourself toward the positive. What you focus on expands.Prayer and meditation facilitate intense gratitude for all that you have. Gratitude is having an abundance mindset. When you think abundantly, the world is your oyster. There is limitless opportunity and a possibility for you.People are magnets. When youre grateful for what you have, you will attract more of the positive and good. Gratitude is contagious.Gratitude may be the most important key to success. It has been called the mother of all virtues.If you start every morning putting yourself in a space of gratitude and clarity, you will attract the best the world has to offer, and not get distracted.3. Write In Your Journal For 515 MinutesWhen you write down your dreams in vivid detail, you begin to engage both your conscious and subconscious minds. Drawing out your dreams in the form of a mind-map is also very powerful for engaging both sides of your brain.Writing down your dreams and deeply visualizing them will make them more emotional for you. Until your dreams become emotional, they wont be powerful enough. You need to reconstruct your identity and memory by developing a new and emotionally-driven vision of your future.As you write your dreams down every single day, write down the ways in which you will actually achieve those dreams.As you write down your dreams and goals, the right people will start popping into your mind. A key part of your success will be learning how to position yourself such that you can connect and collaborate with the right WHOs.Youll need to first develop lots of personal capability yourself in order to be someone worth connecting and collaborating with. You need toMake a firm and committed decision about what you want to become a master ofEmbrace fully the process of developmentOnly care about what certain people think and ignore everyone elseBecome so good you cannot be ignoredHelp the right people further their goalsInvest in the right mentorshipsMake it about your mentors goalsBe a giverNever lose track of your WHYNever become comdistributionspolitiknt about the success you experienceMake huge requestsAsk to collaborate with your heroes once youve established credibility and helped them in incredible waysAll of this stuff can and should happen in your journal long before it occurs in reality. You then act and continue acting in powerful ways and watch as your journal entries become more vivid and clear. Watch as your goals become realities quicker and quicker and quicker.4. Hard Physical ActivityDespite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity according to the Center for Disease Controls National Health Interview Survey.If you want to be among the healthy, happy, and productive people in the world, get in the habit of regular exercise. Many people go immediately to the gym to get their body moving. I have lately found that doing yard work in the wee hours of the morning generates an intense inflow of inspiration and clarity.Whatever your preference, get your body moving.Exercise has been found to decrease your chance of depression, anxiety, and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career.If yo u dont care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Humans are holistic beings.5. Act CourageouslyA persons success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have. - Tim FerrissBut you dont have to constantly be battling your fears. Actually,Darren Hardyhas said that you can be a coward 99.9305556% of the time (to be exact). You only need to be courageous for 20 seconds at a time.Twenty seconds of fear is all you need. If you courageously confront fear for 20 seconds every single day, before you know it, youll be in a different socio-economic and social situation.Make that call.Ask that question.Pitch that idea.Post that video.Whatever it is you feel you want to dodo it. The anticipation of the event is far more painful than the event itself. So just do it and end the inner-conflict.In most cases, your fears are unfounded. AsSeth Godinhas explained, our comfort zone and our safety zone are not the same things. It is completely safe to make an uncomfortable phone call. You are not going to die. Dont equate the two. Recognize that most things outside your comfort zone are completely safe.You cant change your life without courage.If you start every morning by doing something courageous, then your life will quickly change.6. Listen to/Read Uplifting ContentOrdinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning. It is common for the worlds most successful people to read at least one book per week. They are constantly learning.I can easily get through one audiobook per week by just listening during my commute to school and while walking on campus.Taking even 1530 minutes every morning to read uplifting and instructive information changes you. It puts you in the zone to perform at your highest.Over a long enough period of time, you will have read hundreds of books. Youll be knowledgeable on several topics. Youll think and see the world differently. Youll be able to make more connections between different topics.7. Do At Least One Thing Towards Long-Term GoalsWillpower is like a muscle that depletes when it is exercised. Similarly, our ability to make high-quality decisions becomes fatigued over time. The more decisions you make, the lower quality they become - the weaker your willpower.Consequently, you need to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. The important stuff.If you dont, it simply will not get done. By the end of your day, youll be exhausted. Youll be fried. There will be a million reasons to just start tomorrow. And you will start tomorrow - which is never.So your mantra becomesThe worst comes first.Do that thing youve been needing to do. Then do it again tomorrow.If you take just one step toward your big goals every day, youll realize those goals werent really far away.8. Invest In Your Key RelationshipsIn addition to moving your own life forward, youll want to deepen the connections with those you love.Your rela tionships are a very clear indicator of your quality of life and character.Relationships should be viewed as an investment rather than a cost. When they are viewed as an investment, then you start putting more into them. You start seeing their potential for growth and development.When you invest in key relationships - both personal and professional - your life starts to change. According to Joe Polish, Life gives to the giver and takes from the taker.If during your mornings, you proactively do something kind, thoughtful, and useful to someone important in your life, youll feel far more joy. Youll also likely make huge progress toward your goals, because the more successful you become, the more your success depends on your relationships.ConclusionAfter youve done this, no matter what you have for the rest of your day, youll have done the important stuff first. Youll have put yourself in a place to succeed. Youll have inched toward your dreams.Because youll have done all these thing s, youll show up better in life. Youll be better at your job. Youll be better in your relationships. Youll be happier. Youll be more confident. Youll be more bold and daring. Youll have more clarity and vision.Your life will shortly change.You cant have mornings like this consistently without waking up to all that is incongruent in your life. Those things you despise will meet their demise. Theyll disappear and never return.Youll quickly find youre doing the work youre passionate about.Your relationships will be passionate, meaningful, deep, and funYou will have freedom and abundance.The world, and the universe will respond to you in beautiful ways.Ready toupgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article was originally published on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Go to the doctor in the morning and other proven timing hacks

Go to the doctor in the morning and other proven zeiteinteilung hacksGo to the doctor in the morning and other proven timing hacksOne of the worlds foremost thinkers on business and social science,Daniel Pinkis the author of several bestselling books on business, work, and behavior. He recently sat down with world-leading business thinkerWhitney Johnson, author ofBuild an A-Teamand host of theDisrupt Yurself Podcast, to discuss why when matters as much as what, how, where, and why.This conversation has been edited and condensed. To listen to Daniel and Whitneys full conversation on the Disrupt Yurself Podcast,click here.WhitneyYour new book,When The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, is an absolute pleasure to read. Whats the big idea?DanielThe big idea is that we think the timing is an art. We make our timing decisions based on intuition and guesswork, but its actually very much of a science. There is this enormous body of research out there across many, many fields that allows u s to make systematically smarter, more evidenced-based decisions about when to do things. So, in this book, I try tocrack the code of good timing.WhitneyIn any given day, we have peaks and troughs. For most human beings, the peaks come in the morning, troughs in the afternoons. What are some of the implications of this?DanielWe generally move through the day in three stages a peak, a trough, and a recovery. For most of us, the peak is in the morning, the trough is in the early afternoon, and the recovery is in the late afternoon or early evening. For people who are strong night owls, its the reverse order, but the implications are significant. Time of day explains about 20% of the variance in our performance on cognitive tasks- on things that require our brain. So, this question of when is material to our performance and to our mood. It has huge implications.Lets take health. Based on this research, I would not let a loved one go to the hospital in the afternoon if that welches avoi dable. Anesthesia errors are four times more likely at 300 p.m. than at 900 a.m., for example. Looking at colonoscopies, doctors find half as many polyps in afternoon exams than in morning exams, even if its the saatkorn population. There is some great research showing that doctors, nurses, orderlies, hospital personnel are much less likely to wash their hands during the afternoon than in the morning. So, when we think about our experiences, as customers, as patients, as people doing jobs, we focus on the what, how, and who of our days, but the when of what were doing has a huge effect.The other big idea here is that we dont take these when questions seriously enough, and they have a material effect on our mood, on our well-being, on our performance, on what we learn, on healthcare delivery, on a whole range of things.WhitneyIn the book, you talk about the larger arc of our lives- the beginnings, the mid points, and the ends. You quote Cervantes and say, To be lucky at the beginning is everything. What do you mean by that? And specifically, what have been some of your good beginnings?DanielWhat the research shows is that beginnings matter more than we realize and have a greater impact over the long haul than we realize. You see this in a whole range of interactions. If you look at something like school start times for teenagers- the American Academy of Pediatricians says, Do not start school for teenagers before 830 in the morning, and yet the average school start time is 803 a.m. in the United States. Simply, the time of day of the school starts is increasing the dropout rate, increasing teenage depression, increasing obesity, and leading to more teen accidents.I found this really alarming. There is some research from Lisa Conn at Yale showing the following you take two people who graduate from the same college, have the same major, and have similar ability five years apart. One graduates in a recession, one graduates during a boom time. The person graduating in a boom time, will earn a little bit more money straight out of the gate. What is surprising is that the wage difference shows up 20 years later. Its unbelievable.WhitneyHow do you correct for that?DanielI set out three principles of beginnings start right, start again, start together. As much as possible, its important to start right. This is why you have more companies paying attention to what happens in the first week, in the first year of somebodys tenure on the job. Chip Heath and Dan Heath write a lot about taking these moments and making that beginning meaningful and useful to people so that they get off on a good trajectory.At an individual level, there are times when sometimes we need to start again. Theres some research from the University of Pennsylvania about whats called the fresh start effect, which shows that were more likely to make behavior changes on certain dates of the year rather than other dates of the year. Youre more likely to make a change on a Monday, ra ther than on a Wednesday. On the day after a Federal Holiday, rather than the day before a Federal Holiday. There are certain dates in the year that operate as temporal landmarks, and we can use them to make a fresh start.On a policy level, lets take the issue of the people graduating from college, through no fault of their own, at an inopportune time. Maybe we need to treat recessions akin to how we treat natural disasters. Theres an earthquake, youre going to get some help because through no fault of your own, the ground erupted underneath you and destroyed your property. Were going to help you out. Your neighbors are going to help you, the public authorities are going to help you. Maybe we need to do something like, if the unemployment rate hits a certain level for that year or for that certain period of time, peoples student loans are forgiven, or theyre reduced.Whitney Before we move on from beginnings, do you have a single tip that you would give to people to either get off to a good start or actually, more importantly, starting again?Daniel Pick the right date. Not all dates are created equal. If you have dates that are personally meaningful, that can be great. So, if you want to start a behavior change of some kind, lets sayWhitney For me, its to stop eating sugar.Daniel I would begin the new regime on a day that has some special meaning to you. Maybe the day after your birthday or the day after your anniversary, the day after one of your kids birthdays or something like that.WhitneyLets go to midpoints. What do we need to know about these? In particular, could you talk about the Uh-Oh effect?DanielSometimes midpoints bring us down, sometimes they fire us up. Theres some great research from Connie Gersick at UCLA and Yale where she followed these teams around and recorded what these teams did. These are teams who are coming up with a new advertising campaign or rolling out a new product for a bank or you know, just the basic stuff that goes on in the w orkplace. She found something really peculiar. We have this notion that theres this fairly steady linear process by which teams do their work. What she found is that it didnt work that way at all. Teams begin by doing very, very little, mostly posturing and status-seeking. But there was a moment when they started really working in earnest, which came at the midpoint.So, you give a team 34 days to do something and they get started in earnest on day 17. You give a team 11 days to do something, they get started in earnest on day 6. That midpoint had this galvanizing effect- it had this Uh-Oh effect. People look at the calendar and they say, Whoa We we wasted half of our time. We better get going Its just eerie how often it happened. She created experiments where she would give teams an hour to do something. And they would really get started in earnest between the 29th and 31st minute. That is something really useful for bosses and project leaders to know how projects really unfold. The y can make these midpoints salient, and use it to get people to move.WhitneyNow, you talk in midpoints about a U-curve of happiness, a midlife slump, an American male slump at an estimated 52.9 years. By my calculations, you are right about at 52.9 years.DanielIndeed.WhitneyHow have you noticed that for you? What has that midlife slump looked like for you? And, excitingly, if publishingWhenis your slump, then what do we have ahead?DanielYou know, I actually have felt that slump on a couple of different dimensions. Ive been doing what Ive been doing now for 20 years, and in the course of writing this book, I was like, Hey, this is my last book. I cant do this anymore. I cant take it anymore. This is really hard. If you were to chart my overall well-being, it wouldnt surprise me at all if Im lower than at other points in my life. Its not a big dip for me though- the U is fairly flat.WhitneyBut its a slump nonethelessDanielI think it is. I wish I wouldve tested that. That analytical pa rt of me wishes I wouldve tested that, basically taken a mood reading twice every year for my whole life and see where I was today.People my age typically have parents who are getting older, and kids you need to assist in making their way into the world. Theres no question that there are certain disappointments that you have when you get to my age. The odds of my being on a 40 Under 40 list are pretty much nil. My odds of winning a Pulitzer Prize are almost nil. I think we have to reckon with those kinds of things. The good news though, Whitney, as you say, is that things begin to tick up a little bit.Whitney Do you have one or two suggestions for people to effectively combat that midlife slump?Daniel One of the meta takeaways of this book is just simply being aware of some of these phenomena. For instance, midpoints were basically invisible to me. Its something that I never even thought of. And now, Im like Oh, okay. This is a midpoint of a project. Now, I understand that midpoints have these kinds of effects, and so Im going to be aware of these things and make sure that they dont bring me down too much.Warren Buffett has this great technique that I think can combat a midlife slump. He asks, What are your 25 goals? What are the 25 things you want to achieve? Heres where it gets interesting You look at that list, and you cross out number six through 25 and focus only on those five. So, I have begun doing that exercise, and I find it very clarifying. In focusing and really being intentional about the things that matter most, that creates the most meaning. Thats who you really are.Whitney Whats a goal thats in your top five?Daniel I have alway wanted to make a movie. Not like Star Wars, but a documentary.WhitneySo, are you going to do it?DanielI think Im going to try to do it.WhitneyThat is fantastic. Im so excited for your documentary.DanielNow, I have to do it WhitneyWhitneyThats right. Isnt that wonderful? So its fascinating that you said that, because one o f the things that you wrote about endings is, The most powerful endings deliver poignancy because poignancy delivers significance. Adding a small component of sadness to an otherwise happy moment elevates that moment rather than diminishes it. When I read that, I thought, Oh, thats why I liked the filmLa La Landso much, because it had that modul of poignancy.DanielEndings have some really, really incredible effects on our perception, our behavior, and our mood. One of the things that endings seem to do in many cases is triggera search for meaning. And poignancy is, I think, a really under-studied emotion, but profoundly meaningful and profoundly human. You see this at graduations. I happen to love the ritual of graduations, the Pomp and Circumstance - I find them poignant. Its exciting because someone has achieved something, theyre moving onto a new stage of their life, but theyre also leaving something behind.That mix of happy and sad creates a sense of meaning. Life is about thes e passages. Life is about somebody you love making their way through life and entering a new chapter where you are a peripheral character.WhitneySo what are some tips or suggestions for our listeners to have better endings?DanielBe intentional- recognize that endings are a thing. All of this comes back to this idea that we need to be aware of the temporal aspects of our life and not just dismiss it as something thats not important or something that we cant have a role in shaping.Endings are a source of meaning. So, you should use endings as meaning makers. People prefer endings that elevate, they prefer rising sequences to declining sequences. This is one reason why if you have good news and bad news, you should always give the bad news first and end with the good news.This is true for more mundane things. Like the end of customer experiences are really, really important, and I dont think a lot of businesses are intentional enough about that. Endings disproportionately affect how we remember entire experiences. Most important of all, be aware that endings are going to be a huge part of how someone remembers an encounter with you, how someone remembers a transaction with your business, how someone remembers a talk that you gave. Endings stick with us for a very, very long time.This article was originally published on Heleo.com.

How to Beat Interview Fear

How to Beat Interview Fear How to Beat Interview Fear Don’t let fear, nerves and stage fright keep you from the job interview you want. “Sometimes nerves take over and you don’t show who you are.”Those are the words of an auditioning actor in “Every Little Step,” a 2008 documentary that follows the process of casting the 2006 Broadway revival of “A Chorus Line.” But they could just as easily have been spoken by anyone who has ever been nervous before a job interview or looked back on his interview performance with regret.Whether you are an actor stepping onto an audition stage or a job seeker entering a conference room, the pressure to perform to the best of your ability can cause anxiety that threatens to cripple your performance.For some job seekers, nerves can be disabling and lead to an unsuccessful job interview. Something happens when they walk through the door of the interviewer’s office. Cold sweat trickles down the back of their knees. Their minds draw a blank when asked basic questions like, “Where do you s ee yourself in 10 years’ time?” or, “Why would you like to work for this company above all others?” These candidates feel like they’re back at school in front of a crowded assembly, unable to make those words pass their lips.Actors call it “stage fright” â€" the fear of underperforming in front of a paying audience or at an audition â€" and almost all good actors acknowledge batting it at one time or another. Many learned tricks early to overcome a paralyzing phobia that can kill their careers. (Remember the instruction to imagine the audience in their underwear?)Ladders asked several actors and acting coaches to share the tactics they use to keep stage fright from paralyzing their performance and tips to deliver the best audition during your next job interview.Be preparedThere are many things that job interviewees can do to stave off stage fright. For actor John Treacy Egan, star of such Broadway hits as “The Producers” and “The Little Mermaid,” the key to ove rcoming nerves and ensuring you ace the audition is simple: preparation.“In ’Every Little Step,’ ” he said, “it is fantastic to see how prepared a lot of these performers were for their auditions.” Egan, a veteran of stage, cinema and television and an authority on auditioning, was inspired by the documentary. “I really need to be more prepared,” he realized after seeing the film. “You sometimes think, ‘Oh, I will do fine, and it will get me to the next stage.’ You can get lax like that as an actor. You really need to give that performance the first time and not rely on a callback. Be as prepared as you can be.”Jodie Bentley, owner and co-founder of The Savvy Actor, a New York firm that coaches actors on the business of acting and teaches them how to market themselves, supports Egan’s philosophy that preparation is vital. “So many people just wing it and say, ‘I am just going to be me!’ And then when we get in the interview situation, we all clam up i f we don’t have something planned and prepared.”Comfort with your costumeWhat you wear for your interview or audition can set the stage for your nerves â€" it can sap your spirit or boost your confidence, Bentley said. “I’m coaching an actress right now who is really a leading lady, but she is having trouble owning (those roles),” she said. “You need to dress that part, and that confidence will come. I think (the right clothing) helps body language in an interview as well.”Your appearance goes beyond clothes, Egan said. It extends to all aspects of your physical presentation â€" your posture, pose, expressions and voice.“Always try to put yourself in comfortable situations,” Egan said. “You have a lot of people around you in the professional world to help you. Ask them, ‘Does my outfit look correct? Does my voice sound right? Is my hair cut right?’ Practice interviews with your friends.”Breathe and shake!What if you are well dressed, well groomed and well p repared but you still feel like a panic attack is approaching? Stage fright, said Egan, usually occurs about five minutes before the actor goes on stage. Actors beat back the paranoia by breathing, he said.“Whenever you start to experience fear, the first thing that you have to do is remember to breathe. Fear stops your breathing, and everything starts to tighten. Breathing opens the door to relaxation.”“You can tell right away when someone walks up and they are not breathing,” Bentley said. “They are not in their body, and they look uncomfortable. Breath is a force of life. I really believe that.” She recommends a breathing exercise that she does before going on stage or before a big meeting or audition: “It is rapid breathing through the nose. It really centers you and calms you.”Egan advises that you give yourself a chance to shake it off. Literally. “Shake your limbs and jump up and down and give the adrenalin the chance to have an outlet of actual movement.” If you’re feeling the pains of panic set in, find yourself a private space â€" a lobby bathroom or a secluded corridor â€" and practice these breathing and shaking tips to beat back stage fright.The elevator pitchBentley instructs her clients to practice role-playing exercises before an audition and to have an elevator pitch or monologue memorized and at the ready. Everyone’s interview routine should include a 45-second blurb, she said. “If someone says, ‘Tell me about yourself,’ you already have a monologue or blurb ready to go.” She encourages her clients to rehearse their elevator pitches and asks that it convey “something personal about you, showcase your strengths and show what you are passionate about.”Bentley believes the elevator pitch should be carefully crafted and learned. “Type it out. Say it to yourself in the mirror. Look at yourself while you are doing it.”Also, research all you need to know about the company where you hope to work. Prepare your th oughts about the business and industry and have some ready answers about the them, she said.From the moment you walk in, be realThe interview isn’t just how you answer questions or explain your skills, Egan said. That would be like limiting an actor’s audition to his reading and singing, he said. “From the moment you walk through the door, you have to be available as a real person. You cannot shut down when you aren’t singing and dancing. You want to be present for all of it. It is the same for an interview. You take yourself on as a character.”Bentley warns her clients about being overly intimidated and losing the essence of their personalities in the process. “Many people get into interview settings and look at that person across the table as an authority figure. I think that is the worst thing that you can do.”Bentley encourages interviewees to show their passions and interests because people want to work with people they like. “That is definitely a rule in theate r. If a director is going to be working with you for four to eight weeks straight, he has got to like you first. And it is the same if somebody is going to bring you onto a team in their company: they need to like who they are going to be working with. People want to work with people who are passionate.”The multiple-person interviewIn a one-on-one interview, you can balance your energy against that of the other person. “You can sense the temperature in the room much quicker in a one-on-one than with a group,” Egan noted. If the interview is with a group of interrogators, your balance and attention are taxed like an actor on stage connecting to an audience.The first rule: Acknowledge everybody in the room, he said.Bentley agreed. “When you have a room full of people,” she said, “I think it is your job to keep the energy up in the air a little bit more. It is more of a hot-seat situation. I think you really need to take in the whole room and not just answer one person. Eye contact is really important.”Ask questions; don’t freezeConfidence in the interview or audition is evident when you are fully prepared. “I would recommend preparing stories about your resume that show your personality, your strengths or your work ethic,” Bentley advised. “If you have these prepared and memorized to a certain degree, you will always have something that you can pull out of your back pocket if the nerves begin to take over.”Egan suggested notecards as a last resort. “Even if you have to look down, at least you’re getting your point across as opposed to freezing.”Another way to keep grounded and in the moment it is to have a few questions prepared to ask the interviewer. “If you get stuck and you don’t know what else to say, don’t just sit there. Have a couple of questions prepared and know your audience,” Bentley said. She instructs her clients to have three personal questions and three business questions prepared that they can insert at any moment. “So if you know that a person lives in a certain area of the town, you could ask if they have ever gone to a particular pizza parlor. Or if you know that they went to a certain college and you know someone that went there, you can bring that up.”“Always ask questions,” Egan said. “An interested person is an interesting person.”Take your time when you speak, and select your words. “Don’t talk too fast. Speak clearly and slowly,” he said.Faking it The interview is underway, and you still feel insecure. How can you project something you’re not feeling? “Act it,” Egan said. “You really have to fake it. No one will know. You have to tell yourself to be confident. It really is about projecting confidence because nobody wants to hire somebody who is not confident.”A lot of actors walk into an audition and apologize for not being ready because they only received the music that day. Directors don’t want to know that, he said. He recommends that the actor approach the situation with confidence by declaring his intention to sing something else. “Don’t apologize. Walk in and show them that you can carry the show. I hate to say this because it can be taken another way, but you are doing them a favor by being there. They need somebody to fill their position, and you are going to be really good at it.”Analyzing the performance afterwards“Don’t judge the interview until it is over,” Egan said. “Oftentimes, you can go into an audition and feel you got the job, but you may never get the phone call. And if you feel like you did blow an opportunity, you should take a moment to learn from it and build upon it rather than repeat it.“You should always analyze what your stage fright is about,” he said. “If you can identify what you are afraid of, you can address it. Often, for people who suffer from stage fright it is one big thing (that the feeling originates about).” But it is more likely that minor aspects of performing c ause you anxiety. Do you feel you are being judged? Do you feel unprepared? Do you focus too much on your own behavior or appearance? Identify the crux of your stage fright, and performance anxiety could be a thing of the past.