Performing when the pressure is on! Does that thought cause immediate anxiety? Do you relish the spotlight, or do you instantly tighten up? Let's get geeky for a few minutes and talk neuroscience... how your brain perceives performance situations and sends neurons traveling down well-worn neural pathways to potentially sabotage you and your confidence. Then let's learn just a little bit of performance psychology, based on the book, "The inner game of tennis." (Yep, a tennis book at a VO conference.) This book was required reading for a music performance class in college -- and it was life-changing. (Yep, tennis in a music class, too!) As VO artists, we "perform" every time we step up to the mic. Is your brain helping you? Or is your busy, loud, controlling brain interfering? We are voiceover athletes! We are using our physical selves and vocal muscles in our readings, just as athletes and musicians are executing physical skills in their performances. Tightness and stress trigger unhelpful responses from our busy brains, causing a cascade of interference. Let's learn techniques to help you quiet the interference and perform with calm confidence!