Director’s Notes
Core Skill: Dealing with Nerves
For this week’s director’s note, whilst we're in the midst of our winter LAMDA exam season, I wanted to talk about feeling nervous, and how your weekly drama lessons can help.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by nerves in social settings, presentations, or interviews? It’s natural for us all to feel nervous at different times in our lives, and indeed nerves can be a very helpful tool which when channeled positively can give your performance that energy and dynamism that you are looking for.
Often on exam days, students will say to us that they feel a bit nervous. And my response is always that nerves are actually a great thing. A super-shot of adrenaline that switches us on, makes us alert and sensitive to the live nature of performance, hyper aware of being ‘in the moment’ - and it ultimately shows that we really care about the performance we are about to give.
A lack of nerves can suggest apathy, and a lack of energy - which isn’t what we’re looking for when we’re just about to step on stage or into that exam room!
But, nerves can become negative when we can’t control them. When they cause us to panic, to have a mental block and forget our words, to speed up and lose the nuance and detail we’ve carefully curated in our rehearsals with our teacher.
Attending your drama lessons, you can learn how to combat nerves and use them in a positive way. In a supportive and fun environment, you’ll learn techniques to manage anxiety and channel it into confidence.
Through role-playing, voice exercises, and movement, you’ll gain tools to stay grounded and poised under pressure.
Drama training helps you focus on the moment, express yourself clearly, and embrace vulnerability, transforming nerves into powerful performance energy.
Whether you're stepping on stage or into a meeting, drama classes teach you how to stay calm, cool, and collected.
And to help you on your journey, or as a useful crib sheet to look over when you’re heading in for that LAMDA exam in January, here’s a list of top tips from your Director:
1. Physical Strategies
Deep Breathing: Use diaphragmatic breathing to calm your body. Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of 4, hold for 4, exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 6. Repeat until you feel calmer. Doing this outside the exam room whilst you wait for your turn is a great chance to calm your thoughts and slow your pace.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR): Tense and then release different muscle groups in your body, starting from your toes to your head. This reduces physical tension.
Exercise: Engage in light physical activity like walking or stretching to burn off excess nervous energy. Have a quick run on the morning of the exam, a bike ride, walk to the exam itself if possible. Get outside, get moving.
2. Mental Strategies
Reframe Your Thoughts: Replace negative thoughts ("I might fail") with positive or neutral ones ("I am prepared and doing my best").
Visualise Success: Imagine yourself performing confidently and achieving your goal. Visualisation can trick your brain into feeling more prepared.
Focus on the Present: Practice mindfulness to prevent your mind from spiraling. Techniques like grounding exercises (e.g., "5 things I can see, 4 I can touch, 3 I can hear") can help.
3. Preparation
Practice: The more prepared you are, the less you’ll feel nervous. Rehearse your speech, presentation, or task in realistic conditions.
Plan for the Unexpected: Think through potential challenges and how you'd handle them to reduce uncertainty.
Use Checklists: Organising your tasks ensures you don’t worry about missing something. Check your exam criteria. Tick off each element you’ve completed. You know this. You’ve got this.
4. Behavioural Strategies
Smile: Even if you don’t feel like it, smiling can lower your stress levels. A big beam as you walk into that exam room please!
Speak Slowly: Nervousness often makes people rush. Consciously slow down to appear and feel more composed. This is the BIGGEST feedback we get from exams. Slow down. Take your time. It will calm you down - and relax your audience. Win win.
Fake Confidence: Acting confident can make you feel confident over time!
Feel free to add any helpful tips you have yourself in the comments for other learners to benefit from. Best of luck with the exams. You've got this!
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