One Simple Trick to Become More Confident
You’ve probably heard or read that you should pretend you’re speaking to empty chairs, or pretend you’re the king or queen, etc if you want to be more a confident person.
That works. But there’s a simpler way which I’m about to expose to you. I’ve used both that of pretending & this one- this has stood the test of time.
This method works and it is so simple if you’re not careful you’ll scoff and dismiss it.
I discovered this method accidentally when I worked as a teacher.
One month after I got a job as a teacher, I was made the secretary of the PTA. This meant I’d have to sit in front of all parents and teachers, with othe executives of the PTA, to read and take minutes.
Whew! I was scared. The first time.
I could read. Fluently too but facing all those people felt intimidating.
So, before my debut, I read the minutes I’d presents countless time. By meeting day I’d almost memorised the minutes by heart. This made it so easy when I started reading. By the end of paragraph one, I felt at home.
I learnt one thing that day about confidence.
Mastery is a great confidence booster.
This makes sense because when you’re focused on giving your best, you won’t have much time to worry about whether people will like you or not.
One thing most confident people have in common is that they know their subject deeply and as such don’t waste time wondering if they’re confident.
They spend time, even the last minutes before their presentations, making sure they’ve mastered what they’re to speak or present on. Part of this preparation can be imagining yourself reading with confidence, it can mean reading aloud in front of the mirror; summarily, rehearse.
That's the key to confidence. Preparation. Mastery.
The jitters never go away. They’ll always accompany you to the stage, whether you are addressing your boss or the whole office but they’ll disappear as soon as you open your mouth and start to flow. The more you flow, the more confident you feel.
But you can’t flow if you’re not prepared. If you’re not clear what you need to say or do, you’ll stutter and make mistakes and that’ll make you lose your cool, ergo your confidence.
Summary, the key to confidence is preparation and action.
Rehearse and act.
Prepare and keep preparing till you get on that stage.
There are times you’ll slip. Don’t pretend. Everyone experiences a slip of the tongue once in a while. Apologise and pick up.
A bonus hack to be more confident, always cease the opportunity to address other people. The more you do it the more you get used to it and become more confident doing it.
