How to speak with more confidence
Speak with more confidence
When you are speaking, which do you believe Is more important? To feel confident or to appear confident?
Think about that. You probably want both, but you can’t have both all the time. The question is which is more important?
The answer is, it’s more important to appear confident. Why? Because that is the perspective of your listeners.
Once you recognize that it’s about the audience experience and not your experience three factors work in your favor.
- You give yourself permission to experience occasional moments of anxiety that the audiences doesn’t need to know about.
- When you think about your audience, you stop obsessing about your symptoms of anxiety.
- You redefine your purpose from the perspective of what the audience will gain from your presentation, instead of trying to cover everything.
The next steps are to align your Body, mind and soul to reinforce your confidence.
Your Confident Body
The three key elements are posture, beathing and smile
Sit up or stand up as tall as you can. Own your space. Breathe slowly from the bottom of your diaphragm. Place your hands on your tummy and practice belly breathing. You’re doing it right if you feel your tummy pushing out when you breathe in. You’ll feel more confident when you have more oxygen in your system.
And the third piece of a confident body is your smile. When you smile, you feel and look more confident. People are more likely to look at a smiling face and some will smile back which gives you energy.
Your Confident Mind
Get your mindset right. Have a clear understanding of your purpose. Prepare a message that supports that message. Know your material. Know what’s important to your audience. Rehearse your delivery to enhance your comfort with the presentation.
Recognize that you don’t need to be perfect. Simply be real and be effective. That’s the goal. Set the right perspective for your mind.
Your Confident Soul
Believe in the value of your message. You are there to help your audience. You have a valuable message that they will benefit from. You can’t please everyone, so don’t try. Simply deliver your message to those who want to hear it.
One of my professional friends boosts his confidence before every presentation with this mantra. He finds a spot to look out at the audience, then delivers this positive self-talk. “I’m glad, I’m here. I’m glad you’re hear. I know what I know.”
Tap into your passion for your message and for helping your audience. That’s your soul speaking.
You will look and feel more confident when you align your body, mind and soul.
A confident speaker is a more effective speaker.
Imagine your success when you both feel and convey more confidence.
How to speak with more confidence
