What is Confidence?

We all have times where we feel like we’re not good enough. That we’re not skilful enough, qualified enough, experienced enough. But the truth is that opportunities are short lived. They won’t be around forever. And you have no guarantee that a similar chance will crop up again.

So it’s up to you to battle your self-doubts, your lack of personal confidence and to go for it or to learn from a mistake in case you are lucky and a similar chance does crop up again.

There were many dictionary definitions of the word confidence including, “full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing” and “belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities” but one thing that all of these definitions had in common was their relationship to success.

And this is because if you believe in something, in what you do and what you bring to the world you are much more likely to make it happen and live a life with confidence. 

How Can We Show More Confidence?

In Interviews & Pitches…

1) Be Organised…

Turn up to your interview/pitch and know what your vision is, what relevant questions you can ask and what questions you may be asked.

A good way of preparing what you’re going to say is to picture yourself as the person on the other side of the room. What are they looking for? Why do they need you?

2) But Don’t Be Too Organised

Remember, although it’s important to make a plan; don’t make that plan to rigid. If you over-rehearse what you’re going to say, you’ll just be thrown off if things don’t go according to plan.

So ensure you have a rough draft of what you want to say – with a good start and a good ending as this is what people will remember the most – but don’t read off a screen or a set of cards. Passion is just as important as organization and capability. The company wants you to believe in the as much as you want them to believe in you.

3) Look the Part

You’ll feel the part if you look part and chances are that people will give you more of an ear if you look like you made an effort to be on equal planes.

Effort is what the man or woman on the other side of the room is looking for. Because making an effort, shows that you know you have something to give to the company; you’re confident. And if you can’t buy an expensive suit, a nice watch and a breezy smile always helps.

4) Use Confident Body Language

Don’t slouch, stand tall. Keep your shoulder blades back, your chin up and your eyes looking straight ahead. And never feel like you have to look away first. Non-verbal communication is a big part of being confident. And this isn’t just in terms of having a strong voice.

5) Don’t waffle

If you know you talk a lot when you get nervous, slow down when you’re speaking and pause every now and again to breathe so that your thinking about what you are saying and it comes across as informed but natural. And if you do make a mistake, don’t apologize. Just take a breath. Correct yourself. And carry on.

In Other Fields…

1) Master Asking & Answering Questions

If you’re applying for a job or interview ensure you ask questions to confirm your understanding and interest in what’s on offer. A good way to prepare yourself for these early on is to research the company and job role in its entirety.

If you’re pitching for a grant be prepared to give open answers to your own as well so you’re not shocked when you’re put on the spot. In terms of situations outside of these, mostly for the private creator, ensure you’re always asking questions to yourself and those closest to you about your personal progress and be asking questions about opportunities available to fuel these.

If you don‘t ask, the answer will always, always, always be no. So keep your mind open and curious.

2) Be Able To Work With Others

If you can handle criticism this is a great boost for self-confidence, because you’re able to take the points further and use them to develop yourself. If you cannot however, it’s a different story. Criticism can really knock personal confidence.

So always treat others with respect and listen to people. Because if you’ve got people on side, then you can balance out the knocks of personal confidence for the boosts. And learn truly from where you are going wrong.

3) When In Doubt Visualise Success

Before, during and after every chance you take think about why you are taking that chance, and how you’ll feel if it pays of. Visualizing success before-hand will make you more motivated to tackle the chance.

Visualising success and the life with confidence which it creates during your leapt will keep you focused, and after the event will keep the negative thoughts away, and allow you to keep moving on.

4) Believe In Yourself & What You Have To Offer

To convince other people that you have what it takes, you have to believe you have what it takes. That you have the skills, the product, the mindset that the other person desires. Life is about balance. Balancing what you give with what you get.

And the truth is that if you don’t believe in yourself, and your skills and your creation then you won’t be able to sell yourself and your skills and your creation. The biggest lesson we can learn in self-development is that nobody else will sell what you have to offer the world, but you. So if you want that grant, that job, that chance. Then it’s up to you to grab it. And believe you can grab it.

You have as much chance as anyone else at success. But to make your chance better, be yourself but be the best version of yourself; the confident you. And to feel confident. You have to act confident. And that’s what this blog post was all about.

So get grabbing today and don’t hesitate to drop us your tips with a comment below!

Wrote by Aimee Hall