Some nights I walk on stage with a lot of nervous energy. When that happens, the first thing I do is shout “Hello, New York!” or whatever city I am in, a little louder than feels natural. You can see one at the start of my demo at the AWS Summit in New York in 2019: “Hello, New York!”, a little whoop, and then “Are you alright?” It is not a great opening line, but if you watch closely you can hear that my breathing has gone wrong.

The shout is mostly for me. In that moment my heart is pounding, and one loud greeting into the void lets a lot of that out. Having something to shout really helps me feel grounded, and it gets rid of the nervous energy before I need to say anything that matters.

Everyone has their own tells, and everyone needs their own way of dealing with them. Mine are breathing and heart rate, so mine is a shout. Work out what yours are, and find your own small ritual.