Your brain is protecting you from a perceived threat. Here's how to work with it, not against it.
You Don't Blank Because You're Unprepared Your brain is protecting you from a perceived threat. Here's how to work with it, not against it.
Under pressure, the prefrontal cortex gets hijacked by the amygdala, shrinking your working memory by up to 50%
Application to IIM interviews: Stress interviews trigger this response deliberately. The skill isn't preventing stress — it's recovering from it.
— Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To
Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To
Under pressure, the prefrontal cortex gets hijacked by the amygdala, shrinking your working memory by up to 50%
IIM Application: Stress interviews trigger this response deliberately. The skill isn't preventing stress — it's recovering from it.
Stanford Neuroscience Lab Research on Stress
The physiological sigh (double inhale + long exhale) is the fastest way to activate the parasympathetic nervous system
IIM Application: You can use this technique mid-interview without anyone noticing. It takes 10 seconds to reset your nervous system.
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges
Power posing for 2 minutes before high-stakes situations increases testosterone and decreases cortisol
IIM Application: Do this in the waiting room before your interview. The hormonal shift lasts 15-20 minutes.
When your brain perceives a threat (like a panel of professors staring at you), your amygdala triggers a fight-or-flight response. This diverts blood from your prefrontal cortex (thinking brain) to your limbs (for running away). Result: you can't think clearly.
When a panelist says "Your answer is wrong" or interrupts you aggressively, your amygdala interprets this as a threat. Your heart races, palms sweat, and suddenly you can't remember what you were saying.
Recognize this is a physiological response, not a sign of incompetence. The moment you feel it happening, use the physiological sigh: two quick inhales through the nose, one long exhale through the mouth. This activates your parasympathetic system within 10 seconds.
Your working memory is like your mental RAM — it holds the information you're actively processing. Under stress, this capacity shrinks dramatically. Research shows up to 50% reduction in high-pressure situations.
You know the answer to a question (you've practiced it 100 times), but in the moment, you can't access it. This isn't forgetting — it's your working memory being too constrained to retrieve the information.
Externalize your thinking. Ask for a moment to structure your thoughts. Say "Let me think about this systematically..." This buys you time and signals confidence, not confusion.
Just like vaccines expose you to small doses of pathogens to build immunity, controlled exposure to stress builds psychological resilience. The more you practice under realistic pressure, the less your brain treats interviews as threats.
Candidates who do 20+ mock interviews report significantly lower anxiety in actual interviews. Their brains have learned that this situation isn't dangerous.
Practice with people who will interrupt you, challenge you, and make you uncomfortable. Record yourself and watch the recordings. The discomfort of practice prevents the paralysis of the real thing.
STOP stands for: Stop, Take a breath, Observe what you're feeling, Proceed with intention. This creates a micro-pause between stimulus (stressful question) and response (your answer).
When asked "Why should we select you over others?" — instead of rushing to answer defensively, you pause, breathe, notice your anxiety, and then respond from a place of intention rather than reaction.
Practice this in everyday stressful moments (traffic, deadlines, arguments). By the time you reach the interview, it's automatic.
This triggers amygdala hijack and social threat response. Your brain interprets public contradiction as social death.
Don't defend immediately. Pause, take a breath, and say "I appreciate that perspective. Could you help me understand where my reasoning went wrong?" This reframes confrontation as collaboration.
“Candidate: "So the impact of GST on small businesses—" Panel: "You're completely wrong about that." Candidate: (pause, breath) "I'd genuinely like to understand your view. What am I missing in my analysis?"”
Working memory shrinkage under stress. The answer is in long-term memory but inaccessible to your constrained working memory.
Buy time with process-oriented language. "Let me structure my thoughts on this..." Then start with what you DO remember, even if it's tangential. Often, speaking activates retrieval.
“Panel: "Explain the Phillips Curve." You: (blank) "The Phillips Curve... let me think through the key relationships here. It deals with the trade-off between..." (the act of speaking often triggers recall)”
Sympathetic nervous system activation — the fight-or-flight response. Your body is preparing to escape a predator, not answer interview questions.
Use the physiological sigh (double inhale, long exhale) as early as possible. Ground yourself by pressing your feet firmly into the floor. Make eye contact with the most friendly-looking panelist.
“While one panelist is asking a question, use those 20 seconds to do a physiological sigh. By the time you need to answer, your nervous system has already begun resetting.”
Silence is often used as a stress tactic. Your brain interprets silence as disapproval, triggering anxiety and the urge to over-explain.
Resist the urge to fill silence. Maintain comfortable eye contact. If the silence extends beyond 10 seconds, you can ask: "Would you like me to elaborate on any particular aspect?"
“After answering "Why MBA?", the panel sits silently for 15 seconds. Instead of nervously adding more, you maintain eye contact and wait. Eventually, they nod and move to the next question — your composure impressed them.”
IIMA is known for intellectual grilling. Panels often play devil's advocate, contradicting even correct answers to test conviction and composure.
Don't interpret challenges as signs you're wrong. IIMA panels respect candidates who defend their positions calmly while remaining open to learning. Say "I see your point, and here's why I still believe..."
IIMB interviews can feel more conversational but don't be fooled — they're evaluating how you handle ambiguity and open-ended questions.
The relaxed atmosphere can cause candidates to become overconfident or casual. Maintain professionalism. Treat open-ended questions as opportunities to demonstrate structured thinking.
IIMC is known for rapid-fire questions, especially on current affairs and technical concepts. The pace itself creates stress.
If you need a moment, take it. It's better to pause and give a structured answer than to rush and stumble. "That's an interesting question. Give me a moment to organize my thoughts."
XLRI panels often probe values and ethics, which can feel more personal and emotionally charged than factual questions.
Prepare for emotional regulation, not just intellectual preparation. When asked about ethical dilemmas, acknowledge complexity before stating your position.
SPJIMR emphasizes social sensitivity. Questions about privilege, societal contribution, and empathy can trigger defensive responses.
Approach these questions with genuine reflection, not rehearsed answers. Panels can detect inauthentic responses immediately. It's okay to say "I'm still learning about this aspect of myself."
Train your nervous system to reset on command using the double-inhale, long-exhale technique.
Three times daily (morning, midday, before bed): Take two quick inhales through your nose (the second inhale should feel like topping off), then exhale slowly through your mouth for 6-8 seconds. Do this 5 times in a row.
The double inhale maximally inflates the alveoli in your lungs, and the long exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Within 10 seconds, your heart rate drops. After 2 weeks of practice, this becomes automatic under stress.
Practice being interrupted, challenged, and made uncomfortable in a controlled setting.
Ask a friend or mentor to conduct a mock interview where they deliberately: (1) Interrupt you mid-answer, (2) Say "That's wrong" even when you're right, (3) Sit in silence after your answers, (4) Ask unexpected/uncomfortable questions. Do at least 10 of these before your real interview.
Your brain learns that these situations aren't actually dangerous. By the real interview, your amygdala doesn't overreact because it's been through this before.
A sensory grounding exercise to use in the waiting room before your interview.
Identify: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. Go through each sense slowly and deliberately.
This technique activates your senses and pulls your attention into the present moment, away from future-focused anxiety. It's been clinically proven to reduce acute anxiety within 2-3 minutes.
Use expansive body postures to shift your hormonal state before high-stakes situations.
Find a private space (bathroom, empty hallway) 2-5 minutes before your interview. Stand with feet wide apart, hands on hips (Wonder Woman pose) or arms raised in V shape. Hold for 2 minutes while breathing deeply.
Research by Amy Cuddy shows this increases testosterone (confidence) and decreases cortisol (stress) for 15-20 minutes. Even if the hormonal effects are debated, the ritual itself creates psychological readiness.
“I should try to eliminate all nervousness before the interview”
Some nervous energy is beneficial. Research shows moderate arousal improves performance (the Yerkes-Dodson Law). The goal is optimal arousal, not zero arousal.
Psychology: Reframe anxiety as excitement. Studies show saying "I am excited" instead of "I am nervous" improves performance because both states share the same physiological signature — the difference is the label.
“If I blank, the interview is ruined”
Panelists expect candidates to struggle sometimes. What they're evaluating is how you recover. A graceful recovery can actually work in your favor.
Psychology: The Pratfall Effect: Highly competent individuals become more likeable when they show small vulnerabilities. Blanking momentarily and recovering well can humanize you.
“Confident people don't feel nervous”
Everyone feels nervous in high-stakes situations — including the panelists themselves. Confidence isn't the absence of fear; it's the ability to act despite fear.
Psychology: This is a classic attribution error. We see others' calm exteriors and assume their interiors match. They don't. Research shows even seasoned executives report significant anxiety before important presentations.
“I need to answer immediately to seem confident”
Pausing before answering actually signals thoughtfulness and confidence. Rushing to answer can indicate anxiety and lack of depth.
Psychology: This is the fluency heuristic backfiring. While smooth, quick answers can seem confident, they can also seem rehearsed or shallow. A deliberate pause followed by a structured answer demonstrates executive function.
Arrive 30 minutes early and spend time in the campus environment — familiarity reduces threat perception
Eat a light, protein-rich meal 2-3 hours before (not right before) — blood sugar stability affects cognitive function
Avoid caffeine on interview day if you're prone to anxiety — it amplifies the stress response
Wear clothes you've worn before and feel comfortable in — novel sensations add cognitive load
Have a pre-interview ritual (specific music, visualization, affirmation) — rituals reduce anxiety through perceived control
If you feel panic rising, press your feet firmly into the ground — this activates proprioceptive grounding
Make eye contact with the friendliest-looking panelist when you feel stressed — social connection calms the nervous system
Remember: the panel wants you to succeed. They're not there to destroy you; they're there to find good candidates.
We trained Rehearsal on this psychology research. Now it trains you.
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