Why do smart people make bad decisions?

This free whole-school PSHE assembly explores the moment between feeling something and acting on it.

Using three real incidents, students investigate what happens when strong emotions create a sense of urgency. Through guided discussion, they discover a powerful idea for themselves:

Urgency is a feeling, not a fact.

The assembly introduces The Four Tells – Anger, Fear, Excitement and Self-Righteousness – and encourages students to recognise the feelings most likely to rush them into decisions they later regret.

Includes:

• Editable PowerPoint assembly
• Full speaker notes

Approx. 16–18 minutes, suitable for KS3–KS4, whole-school or year-group delivery

Part of The Pause Collection.