You are listening to the Driving Confidence Podcast for drivers who want to be calm and confident on the road. We will be sharing tips, stories, and advice to beat driving nerves and anxiety and build your driving confidence whether you are just starting out as a learner or have had your driving license for years. If you want to transform how you've. Feel about driving this podcast is for you. We're going to talk about the difference between stress management and confidence building, and why we think that you should use both in your lessons with your students. So, what is stress management? Well, basically, it's what you do so you don't end up feeling really stressed, feeling really frazzled. And I suppose if you get to that state, it's gone too far, hasn't it? Yeah, I would say so, in the, in, certainly in driving less. You don't want to be coming up to a bend with the, trying to pull your hair out. It's, it's, you know, it's gone too far, hasn't it? Yeah. So what we're really talking about is noticing, I suppose, stress and how we can manage that, is that? Yeah, it's making sure that yourself and students have strategies so that they recognize when they're becoming stressed, recognize what their triggers for stress might be, so what scenarios and situations are likely to make them feel more stressed. And then having some tips and tricks that they know will work for them to help to keep them calm because you know that the more stressed somebody is, their driving changes, doesn't it? Yeah, I also noticed that they're, you know, I can notice them getting more stressed. I mean, it's, it's their body language, the way they grip the steering wheel, the way they change gear. Or, or not change gear, should I say, sometimes it's just like, okay, something's happening here, or I might notice in them the face changing to a different color, like red, you know, so there's lots of different things that I notice, and it's probably about getting them to be more aware of what they notice as well, isn't it? And this goes for you as well, you know, if you're getting stressed, where do you feel it? You know, in the body, what happens? Is it you start clenching your fists? Is there a, like a feeling in the chest that goes a bit tight or something, you know? So being aware of when you become stressed, what does it feel like? Where is it? And then, okay, what do I do now? So even as an experienced driver, Your knowledge about driving, your driving in theory should stay the same, but if you're emotional, if you're feeling stressed, then your driving changes. You, it becomes more jerky and faster or slower or you get closer to people, you're distracted because you're stressed, you're thinking about other things. So this affects everybody. Thank you for listening. Find out about the different ways that you can work with us on our website, www.confidentdrivers.co.uk, and begin to transform the way you feel about driving.