Nerves Are Usable Energy

Nerves are not poison. They are arousal: heart rate up, attention sharpened, body preparing to act. Too much arousal can hurt performance, but the right amount can be directed into voice, movement, and presence.

Athletes call this state being amped up and actively seek it. Performers call it stage energy and channel it into their show. Only in public speaking do we frame the same physiology as a problem. The solution is not less arousal — it is better channeling.