1.  PRACTICE.  While studying the substantive law is crucial for the essays and MBE, the performance test is all about doing.  By the time test day rolls around, the doing — performing — of the performance test should feel like old hat to you.

2.  ANSWER THE QUESTION.  This is more than half the battle on the PT.  Simply stick to what they ask you to do, doing everything they require and no more.

3.  JUST DO THE BEST THAT YOU CAN DO, ONE STEP AT A TIME.  It’s interesting how widely the model answers can vary from one another; some model answers even contain some significant false statements of law.  This variation demonstrates that, as long as you just do the tasks like a competent and thoughtful professional and present your work product in the right package, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got the “right” answer.

4.  STAY COOL; DON’T FREAK OUT.  The essence of what the PT is testing is how well you can handle uncertainty.  If you can simply carve out a reasonable response to uncertainty, you are going to pass.  While the other portions call for mastery of the law, the PT is there basically to weed out people who can’t master themselves.

5.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  The easiest way to adhere to all of these rules is to adhere to this one.  Just be very simple in your approach.  If you can’t see the big picture, do a good job on the parts that you can see.  If you don’t know what the whole thing should look like, simply do whatever step you do see needs to be done.