Why saying 'I am excited' makes you perform better

A new study offers pointers on how to improve performance by tweaking your self-pep talk.

NEXT time you’ve got a public speaking engagement or exam coming up, psych yourself up by telling yourself how excited you are, rather than trying to calm down, and you may actually perform better.

That’s according to a new Harvard study published by the American Psychological Association, which found that affirmative statements like “I’m excited” helped people improve their performance compared to self-pep talks that urged relaxation such as “I am calm”.