What's the problem with using beta blockers if you're nervous about giving a presentation, beta blockers are drugs that they don't make you high or getti, like marijuana or alcohol or anything, but they do reduce your ability to get stressed, they do relax you. So at first blush, it seems like it might be a good idea to use them. I was in Chicago working with a well known mutual fund manager. We'll call her Sarah. She said, TJ, I'm very nervous about going on CNBC tomorrow. I think I'm going to take a beta blocker, I said, Please, don't.
We're gonna rehearse here again and again, until you like how you're coming across. And we did rehearse. We did make some progress, but she still decided to take the beta blocker. And this was more than 15 years ago, but he's still remember the image. It's so powerful. I saw her the next day on CNBC and she was like this Yes, I'd like to tell you about the success of our mutual fund and why our value investing is so successful.
She looked and sounded like a zombie. Very low energy, monotone, no movement in her body. So yeah, the drug worked. She was more relaxed. But it brought her performance level down to the point where she looked scared, uncomfortable, nervous, untrustworthy. Unbelievable.
Now, she's still very successful. Don't, don't feel sorry for but it just drove home for me, is basic principle, that it's not about you feeling comfortable. It's how you've come across to your audience and her case, hundreds of thousands of people were watching that. And that's really the lesson here. Everything you do getting ready for a presentation has to be about How it makes you come across your best to your audience, not just how you feel. Okay, so why do I tell that story?
I tell that story because I do believe that it's simply not a good idea for people to use beta blockers, just because they're nervous about giving a presentation. Now, if you're on them for other reasons, or you're on any other kind of drugs, and your doctors telling you, you have to be on them, don't listen to me. I'm not a doctor, and I'm not your psychiatrist. I'm talking about this specific situation where you don't normally use any drugs. And someone says, oh, take a beta blocker, you'll be relaxed before you give this big speech, or before you give this interview. To me.
That's a huge, huge danger sign. You're nervous, you're not going to come across your best. That means you need to practice more on video. Not take drugs.