So part of it, I think, has to do with how we frame the situation, does that ring true?ДЄndrew Huberman: Absolutely. So if you say, hey, even though my heart rateвЂ™s going up, IвЂ™m getting a little sweaty and shaky, itвЂ™s because IвЂ™m excited to share the information IвЂ™m sharing versus, oh, my goodness, everybodyвЂ™s looking at me and IвЂ™m feeling nervous. You know, part of that I think, has to do with how we label what weвЂ™re experiencing and I know that thereвЂ™s some research from my academic field that says one way to help manage anxiety is just to work on how you perceive the physiological symptoms that youвЂ™re having. You said in some cases itвЂ™s due to anxiety and fear. Matt Abrahams: I want to get back to the notion that you brought up about how we experience the physiological arousal that we get. So itвЂ™s a quite remarkable system in that it has this asymmetry - autonomic on the one hand, but with very powerful entry points for control on the other. ThereвЂ™s you have to know what they are, but that will allow people to control voice level of alertness, level of shaking in their hands. So while itвЂ™s called the autonomic nervous system and the autonomic continuum, itвЂ™s a bit of a misnomer because there are two specific levers or entry points that we all have from birth that require essentially no learning. Those actually turn out to be two different things. And so thereвЂ™s an additional component there that we need to consider, but the most important thing above of all, and I guess if people are going to take away anything from our conversation today, itвЂ™s that despite these responses being automatic, there are direct control points through which we can control the autonomic nervous system, meaning that we can dial down the level of alertness or increase the level of calmness. It has some features that are autonomic, meaning automatic, and that thereвЂ™s no difference between the physiological response to something that youвЂ™re excited about and something that youвЂ™re nervous about or that youвЂ™re dreading.

The most important thing to realize is that it is a continuum. So when we are excited or we are nervous, we have a number of physiological responses that are purely autonomic, meaning theyвЂ™re purely on an automatic. So when we get nervous, we are entering a state which is perfectly natural, but reflects one station along whatвЂ™s called the autonomic continuum and really the autonomic continuum can be conceptualized as a continuum between states of very high alertness: think maximum excitement or fear all the way down to deep sleep, so that our states of mind and body are not discrete entities, they are along this continuum, this autonomic continuum. From a neurologic point of view, whatвЂ™s going on? What happens to our voice, our speech and our hand movements when we get nervous?ДЄndrew Huberman: Yeah. As we all know, communicating in front of others in high stakes situations can certainly involve fear. Matt Abrahams: Like me, I know youвЂ™re fascinated by fear and its impact. Additionally, Andrew works diligently to bring neuroscience research to the public through his teaching, his videos, and his Huberman Lab podcast, which needs to be in everyoneвЂ™s playlist. AndrewвЂ™s research focuses on understanding the brain mechanisms controlling anxiety, cognition and performance under stress. I am really looking forward to speaking with Andrew Huberman, who is a professor in the neurobiology department at Stanford UniversityвЂ™s School of Medicine. Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. IвЂ™m Matt Abrahams and I teach Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Today, using research from neuroscience weвЂ™ll explore how you can hack your communication to maximize your impact. Matt Abrahams: Imagine what it would be like to be at your best every time you communicated: alert, focused, engaged, and with minimal fear.

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