Argh! Need Help! I Panic During Testing!

It's common for the coach of an underdog team who is getting ready to play against a much better team to remind his players that you're only playing against the man in the uniform, not the uniform itself. Don't be intimidated by the uniform or the history of the team or anything that doesn't affect the game itself. Focus on the man and the moment and nothing else.

Forget about the uniform or the title or the authority or any of that. You're just in front of a person, a person who is no different than you. They have dreams, fears, and insecurities just like you do. They're trying to make a living and provide for themselves and their loved ones just like you. They want to be successful in life and their job now is to help you be successful by making sure you're ready to safely inspect a truck, which you already know you are.

Remember that it's just a person who wants to help you succeed, and you know you will because you've worked hard and learned the materials well. So that person is going to be happy to pass you when they see what you've done. Be excited for the opportunity.

Thank you Brett!

I got a lot of good advice to get over my examiner anxiety from family, friends, and other students and drivers and the good folks here. I am using a combination of several things I heard. I stayed up till midnight last night handwriting the whole process word for word(8 pages). Got up this morning and while doing my laundry I recited the whole thing out loud twice. Then hand wrote the whole thing again. Just got done with lunch and a good workout in the gym to clear my mind. Now back to studying again. So, my approach with my trainer and the examiner will be to proceed in a friendly manner, as though I'm just having a conversation with them and sharing my knowledge with them, and just doing what I know. I WILL beat this, and I WILL suceed! A big thank you to all who gave advice, it is really appreciated!

I started all my training at the young age of 66. Whenever anybody made me nervous I just threatened them with a lawsuit for abusing a senior citizen. Nobody ever believed me but it sure lightened the mood. You young bucks don't have that advantage.

You may not be the oldest member.

Repetition repetition repetition repetition.

Seriously, do it over and over again repeatedly. Find your pattern, start from the same place every time, like front to back, left to right, rinse, repeat.

I must have done the pre-trip a couple hundred times during orientation and PSD. No exaggeration. They even nicknamed me "pretrip". By the time I took the exam, I could do it in my sleep.

Admittedly, all of my PSD was spent in house at Sprimo so I had lots of time to practice.

You'll get it pal. Don't sweat it.

Yep. And for the test pretend you are alone. Ignore everyone

Incorporate the Mr Examiner into your practice.

Incorporate the Mr Examiner into your practice.

Nooo, that's part of my examiner anxiety problem, they want us to say that, but all it does is reinforce the fact that I'm being tested, I'll be my usual polite and respectful, but I'm going to avoid saying that.

Muscle memory. Touch everything and say the same thing every time for each component respectively.

Sometimes with situations such as this, you just need to lighten up and try to take some of the seriousness out of it. Remember competence builds confidence, so if you know it then you should have nothing else to fear. It's just you and the truck and what you know. Goodluck!

SERIOUSLY NEED ADVICE! My first issue today with training and testing! When I test on paper or computer I have almost zero test anxiety, but verbally testing in front of someone I freeze up and cant remember things! When I practice the pretrip inspections out loud by myself I nail it everytime, but doing it in front of my trainer not so much. Must get past this before I test in front of the examiner!!!!

I've heard that if you can picture in your mind the trainer standing there naked, it helps you relax.

Stand up Comics and public speakers swear by it!

You got this!