Confidence is a feeling of self-assurance. You trust that you know what you're doing or talking about. You believe in yourself!
This week in classes we are talking about how to show confidence. There are times when we do not necessarily feel confident, but we still want to appear as though we are. The following are specific tools that we can use to display confidence.
Posture How you position your body speaks volumes. If your shoulders are slumped, if your head is down, if your arms are crossed or if your hands are clenched - these things can all show a lack of confidence. If you want to look confident, you should keep your shoulders back, strong but relaxed. Keep your head up! Make a conscious choice with your hands - crossed arms can look aggressive, or closed off. While it may feel awkward at first, you will look more confident if you let your hands simply hand down at your sides while speaking.
Avoid fidgeting Wringing your hands, playing with your clothes, tapping, reflexively touching your hair or face, etc., all can be distracting and make you look nervous. To display confidence, try to remain still, and use only strong, deliberate gestures.
Eye contact When you are speaking to someone, meeting their eyes indicates your confidence. Looking away or at the floor will make you look uncertain. If you are speaking to a group of people, look each of them in the eye one by one, slowly, so that your eyes move around the group.
Black Belt Voice The volume of your voice is critical. If you are too quiet, you will sound nervous or unsure. Of course, you don't want to go around shouting. Like Goldilocks, we need a happy middle ground with volume. Enunciation is important too. If you talk too fast, your words will slush together and no one will understand you. We call this loud, clear, confident speaking our "Black Belt Voice."
As you practice these tools, you will develop more confidence in your presentation, and ultimately, that will affect your confidence in yourself. The more you practice, the more natural and instinctual it will become!
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