How to be confident while reporting in front

If you break out in a cold sweat or even feel butterflies when you think about standing in front of others for a presentation or interview, you are not alone. Fear of public speaking is estimated to affect 75 percent of adults. Rethinking the way we perceive stress may actually improve our physical and mental performance. It may be easier to give in to our fears, but you will accomplish much more in life and feel a greater sense of pride for facing them.

Some mistakenly think that confidence is something you either have or don’t have. That is not true. Every one of us can build and grow confidence. Even if you feel insecure and lack self-confidence, it is possible to work on yourself to acquire it. You are not damaged goods. In fact, you have unlimited and unknown potential deep inside yourself. Access your inner confidence with these six techniques.

1. Develop Awareness of Your Soul

Your soul is absolutely secure and brimming with self esteem. But life in this insecure world — experiences that hurt us — can conceal and disconnect you from your soul and its inherent confidence, and leave you feeling fearful and threatened in a hostile world. To access your secure soul you need to connect to the soul; to be aware of it. The deeper your awareness, the more profound your confidence will manifest. You must become confident with confidence, so to speak; confident with your own inner soul confidence. To achieve that you need to have a relationship with your soul. By communing with your soul – through study, prayer and good deeds – you can glean energy from the soul’s inherent confidence.

2. Shift Your Routines

Sometimes when we cannot access the inner resources that lay beneath the surface, we need to scrape away the outer crusts that conceal the energy within. Psychologically this is called behavioral change: external change brings internal change. Shift your routines and this will in turn shift your inner moorings. Shift breeds shift. Change your habits.

3. Fake It ‘Til You Make It

One way to create such a shift is to "fake" it ,to project and believe in the possibility even when you are not in the mood. To act confident even when you may not feel that way. You’re not being a liar; you are transcending how you feel and transcending your limiting beliefs, which in turn free up your inner strengths.

4. Seek Support

Peer support is also an important factor in gaining confidence. Beginning from early childhood, the support we get from our parents (and also the lack of it) directly affects our level of self-confidence. When a child is acknowledged and encouraged, assured and complimented, the child builds courage and learns to trust him/herself. As a child explores it’s surrounding, observe how s/he looks for affirmation from parents and adults. Even if your childhood resulted in a lack of confidence, there is always hope. Find supportive friends and mentors who can support you in making your unique contribution to the world.

5. Be Around Confident People

Another powerful way to behaviorally build self-confidence is to be around confident people. Confidence is contagious. Spending time with secure people will always nurture your soul’s inner confidence, just as hanging around insecure people will always feed your insecurities.

6. Make Other People Feel Confident

It’s a mirror image: Confidence breeds confidence; security feeds security. You usually make others feel as you are; you project what you are and you are what you project. Confident and secure people make others feel the same. Insecure people make others feel insecure. Help others feel confident, and it will come back and bring you confidence in return.

And the other thing that we need to considered is the :

Preparation Is Key

You want your speech to flow like a river, and that won’t happen if you don’t take time to prepare for it. That’s not an easy goal but it can be done. Begin by setting aside time to assemble your piece. Move on by jotting down points you want to get across to your audience. Then arrange them logically, so they flow naturally from one to the next. After this you can mix in something more to hold your audience’s attention: stories, illustrations, and props, like images, and videos in your slideshow. You likely dread public speaking because you’re not sure what to tackle in your speech, and how to deliver it. By taking notes you make way for your talk to crystallize in your head. Strengthen your speech by doing your due diligence and researching your topic.

Know Your Audience

At this point you know what to talk about, but how to get it across to your audience is another story. First, you need to know who’ll be listening when you speak. To put it another way, know your audience. Find ways to get acquainted with your listeners. Aim to be intimate with them. Dig up their eccentricities, wants, aches, and pet peeves. What are they dying to learn, to hear, or to talk about? What are their interests? Be aware of their age bracket. Demographics is an integral part of discovering your audience. You don’t need a formal survey to get this information, either. Just interact with them in the first five minutes of your talk.

Be An Expert On Your Topic

Let’s say you’re giving a talk on love and romance. Think about your own love life. What are your romantic experiences? Or, think of lessons you’ve learned from famous love stories. Use these lessons to jazz up your talk.

You can also research love itself, and its fascinating, countless definitions across cultures and borders. Study them, and look at what interests you the most. Pick instances in your own life and connect them specifically to the definitions you studied. If you have time to prepare, you can interview experts and accumulate data for the “love gems treasure box” you can share with your audience during your talk. Try to turn yourself into a love expert before standing on the podium. When the spotlight hits you, you’ll be ready to speak with confidence, eloquence, and authority.

@gineeely
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