Ever been in a situation in which you felt completely out of character? Like you didn’t deserve to be on stage, didn’t belong at the negotiation table or were just not entitled to your 15 minutes of fame?

Some people are parachuted in new and unsettling situations and show no signs of stress or hesitation. It’s as though everything was normal; as though life was just catching up with what they had always been entitled to.

But, everyone feels uncomfortable the first time they’re thrown in situations that don’t feel completely real. In these situations, it’s important to realize that “out of character” does not mean “beyond character”. There’s a simple rule of improvisational acting that can help you overcome that early feeling of unworthiness:

Act as if this is completely normal (Conan O’Brien).

If you can get over the early feeling, the situations eventually become second nature to you.