61 Ways to Boost Confidence– At Work:
1. Have a strong, loud voice with resonance; try to be the loudest voice in the room (without being obnoxious). The loudest person is usually perceived as the most powerful person.
2. Posture, Posture, Posture! Stand and sit upright at all times.
3. Take up Space, own your surroundings; use large hand gestures, lean back in your chair, cross your legs
4. Look relaxed and poised at all times
5. Respect your bosses, but treat them like peers
6. Keep a level head, literally (both vertically and horizontally)
7. Don’t fidget or do anything distracting
8. Use strong eye contact – but don’t stare; you must connect with the audience before they buy anything from you…before they buy you
9. Don’t ramble, let your yea be yea
10. Act like a king or queen, to be treated like a king or queen
11. Turn your head by using your neck only, don’t turn your entire body when you turn your head (have a tri-pod head)
12. Only look where your nose is pointing (e.g. don’t look from the corner of your eyes)
13. Be yourself, but the best version of yourself – the confident version of yourself
14. Prepare! If you must rely on notes when you’re speaking or presenting, then you are not prepared!
15. Practice all formal presentations! Practice until you’re comfortable without notes.
16. Organize your desk, as well as your work-related thoughts
17. Ignore your nerves when you’re nervous, and no one will know you’re nervous
18. Slow down! Slow down your speech as well as your body movements
19. Articulate your words! If you articulate, you will sound even more intelligent than you are
20. If you act confident, you will feel confident; people will think you’re confident. You can use music to get you into a “confident zone”
21. Practice these skills in everyday conversations; you have dozens of opportunities to practice these skills everyday (review this list daily until it becomes second nature)
22. When presenting, always practice 1st two minutes until its near perfect; strong opening, strong closing – it’s what people remember the most
23. Warm up your voice by counting from 1 to 20, getting louder the closer you get to 20 (try it)
24. Own your message, if you don’t own your message, others will interrupt and own it for you
25. Remember to pause frequently, you’re not in a rush
26. Show passion in your subject matter, show passion regarding your responsibilities
27. Speak in a conversational tone: be casual, humorous, keep it simple, use props, use stories
28. Use a great catchy opening (whenever you present)
29. Calm down! Relax! Do not take things so seriously!
30. Act Fearless – to Become Fearless
31. Perfectly Balance: Being Yourself, Being Professional, and Not Giving a “Blank”
32. Breathe Deeply from the Belly! Relax!
33. Positive Self-Talk!
34. Put yourself out there! Speak up! Be transparent! People want your opinions, thoughts, and unique insights!
35. Love the nervous energy: That is your power, people love presentations with energy, it’s contagious
36. Use Humor, quotes, call names of members of the audience, give examples; be normal and yet creative; think fast!
37. Be authentic and true to the information that you have, if you don’t know, then you don’t know; it’s okay
38. Provide your vision, not just facts and figures
39. Love the audience, respect their questions, and make them feel good about asking them
40. Be amazing, be energetic, put your heart into what you’re saying
41. Be present with the audience; notice their body language and adjust accordingly
42. If you are asked to a meeting; assume you will be presenting and prepare!
43. Do not apologize if you make a mistake when speaking, correct if necessary and move forward
44. Do not respond to e-mails/requests immediately – unless necessary, or if you’re required to; but do respond
45. Regarding “nerves:” It’s okay if you’re a little nervous, the more opportunities you get to speak, the less nervous you will become
46. Preparation will help to reduce nerves significantly. Note: Just because you’re nervous doesn’t mean that you’re not going to do an amazing job.
47. Stand or sit symmetrically, hold head still while speaking
48. Use a downward inflection, strong resonance (vibration in your voice), yet remain casual
49. Be overtly comfortable, confident, poised, relaxed and kingly
50. Never show shame or look for pity; if you look for pity you may get pity, but you don’t want it
51. To be trusted you must appear credible (confident and knowledgeable) and empathetic (caring)
52. Research several large words and insert into your presentation or your daily conversation
53. If you are comfortable, your audience will be comfortable, they will mirror you
54. Know your value, if you were asked into a meeting, you were asked for a reason, don’t attempt to please, know the value you provide, and provide it
55. Visualize and affirm success; practice in advance, and then ‘let it rip’ on stage – be your natural self
56. The more nervous you are, the more confident you should act; the slower you should speak and move
57. Remember your brain is prepping you to do your best – that’s why your hands are shaking
58. Open up: Let people know who you are, what you’re working on. Be interested in others; others should want to go to lunch with you
59. Be excited about your topic when speaking!
60. Prepare for questions (but don’t over answer); expound when answering, but don’t ramble!
61. Prepare questions to ask peers and bosses if they stop by your office (e.g. How was your weekend?)
Bonus: Remember solid communication consists of confidence (self-belief), commitment (energy and voice quality), and connection (reading and connecting with the audience).
