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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Christie Nicholson. Got a minute?

Performance anxiety¹ can be crippling². Entertainers who suffer from it come up with creative defenses. Bono has his purple shades. The indie rock singer Cat Power faces away from the audience. Others turn to more standard solutions like Xanax.

But there might be a healthier quick fix: writing, because new research reveals³ that writing about your worries just before a performance can reduce the risk of blowing it due⁴ to anxiety. The work appears in the journal⁵ Science.

Researchers gave 20 students two math tests. The students did nothing special before the first test. But before the second test, students were told they’d receive money for high marks. Half of the students were then instructed to take 10 minutes and write down any concerns they had about the test. The other half sat quietly.

Those who just sat waiting did 12 percent worse on the second test than on the first. But those who wrote about their fears showed a five percent improvement⁶ on the exam.

Another part of the research found that writing in general didn’t work—it had to be about test-related concerns to trigger⁷ the effect. So to write may prevent some wrongs.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Christie Nicholson.