Uncertainty – our brain doesn’t like it.
We’re living in pretty awful times right now – I don’t think you’d fight me on that one.
And we’re wired for control – so unless we’ve chosen to move away from that need (like going on a rollercoaster or watching a scary movie), uncertainty typically creates anxiety.
You may recognise this in yourself, whether that’s in your life in general, or specifically in your work.
When anxiety hits, we usually go back in time replaying previous negative moments. OR we future-fear: what I call “rehearse failure” – project negativity into the future.
Dr. Rue Wilson is a staff psychologist at Harvard’s Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She describes this in what I think is a brilliant phrase taken from this Harvard article on Coping with Uncertainty:
Toxic time travel
“We try to feel more in control by imagining different outcomes. But anxiety is such a powerful emotion that our thinking often becomes catastrophic.
We get stuck ruminating, overwhelmed by what-ifs, and disconnected from the present—where we actually have the most certainty.”
For example:
You spend a lot of time preparing content…slides, possible responses, examples, research.
Yet in high-performance scenarios such as presentations, exams or interviews, stress in any form can override all those things.
You may feel a loss of control from the moment you know the event is happening,
And in the moment, you downgrade to survival mode.
It’s disappointing, to put it mildly! But it’s how we’re wired.
The reason?
When we’re under pressure, nothing new appears.
Our prefrontal cortex goes offline, just when we need it most.
So we know this is a problem. How can you then help yourself when communicating at work?
Basically, we need to reach for what’s familiar…and that’s often whatever we’ve practised enough to trust.
Certainty anchors work in this way.
They only hold you firmly if you’ve rehearsed them; and not once, but often enough that they become automatic.
You might be asking “what’s a certainty anchor”?
It’s a deliberate cue – structural, physical or mental – that reconnects you to confidence, clarity, and control under pressure.
A pre-decided stability point you can return to.
I’ll give you an example for each of these three types.
1. Structural anchor
Your opening lines.
Most people “wing it” and hope it lands. You open your mouth, and sounds come out. Just not always the sounds you intended!
A certainty anchor here is having your first 2 – 3 sentences so well-rehearsed that no matter how you feel, you can start clearly. Which then hopefully cascades into the rest of the event.
(And don’t be afraid to have these written down on a card or your notes. Ideally You won’t need to look at them – eye contact at the start is so important – but if you do need them, that’s your safety net.)
2. Physical anchor
A single breath with a longer exhale can help, by activating the parasympathetic nervous system (our “rest and digest” system).
Exhaling also lowers your heart rate, whereas inhaling raises it.
3. Mindset anchor
You might have a prepared internal phrase ready to go:
“I’ve handled this before.”
“[Name], you’ve got this.”
Pre-written scripts are powerful because anxiety narrows your thinking – certainty anchors expand it again.
You’ll respond to different anchors, so it’s worth testing all 3.
And one big mistake I warn people about?
Trying to anchor while already anxious.
People wait until they’re nervous: waiting to speak in the meeting, in the exam hall, in the interview…waiting….and then try to create an anchor.
It’s like installing a fire alarm during a fire.
Anchors must be built in a calm or confident state. You’re pairing a cue with a desired emotional state. If you create the anchor while anxious, you may actually anchor the anxiety.
To sum up for you:
Certainty anchors are about safety and control.
High performers can deal with pressure because they know how to return to certainty quickly.
It’s not about trying to control the whole event – you can’t. Anything involving communication under any sort of pressure involves some uncertainty, and potentially vulnerability.
What you need is a few moments you can rely on, and that will help to take care of the rest.
Step Up | Be Heard | Stand Out
