From The Dish comes this study about how to talk to yourself in a stressful situation, particularly performance stress. Auditions anyone?
“Though we don’t tend to look kindly upon those who speak of themselves in the third person, the practice is not without its benefits. According to reviewers, who were blind to participants’ condition, those who’d avoided I and me in their pep talks actually appeared less nervous, and did a better job on the task at hand. Speaking to ourselves as though we are someone else, it seems, lets us distance ourselves from an overwhelmingly stressful experience.”
While it might make me feel like a loon, I'm gonna give this a try.