Confidence isn’t just about feeling good – it directly affects how your audience perceives you.
Whether it’s having a successful job interview, delivering a presentation at work, or speaking up in meetings, confidence in public speaking can directly influence your career progression and how others perceive your expertise.
A confident speaker:
- Captures attention
- Conveys credibility
- Engages the audience
Many people experience nerves and anxiety around public speaking and presenting. The good news is that confidence can be developed.
How to increase your Confidence in Public Speaking
1. Shift your mindset and think more positively
Instead of seeing public speaking as a performance to be judged, view it as an opportunity to share valuable insights. Focus on your message rather than worrying about how you appear.
2. Prepare a structured talk but avoid memorising a script
Memorising every word can increase anxiety because you’ll worry about making a mistake or going blank. Set up some bullet points on cue cards to stay flexible and feel more natural.
3. Use breathing techniques to reduce stress
If you feel nervous ahead of a speech or presentation, practise breathing techniques. This can help regulate how your body responds to adrenalin. Listen now to my podcast From Stress to Success: How to manage nerves & adrenaline when presenting for more on breath and body control.
4. Practise in real situations
Increase your confidence by gaining more experience in situations where you can practise being out of your comfort zone but not under high pressure. Start with smaller, lower-pressure settings before moving on to larger audiences.
Try setting yourself a small challenge this week – whether it’s speaking up in a meeting or sharing your thoughts in a group – and notice how your confidence grows.
5. Get help!
Presenting is a skill, like any other skill you will make progress faster and more efficiently with a coach. My new Confidence Toolkit is already being embedded into group programmes and will also be available as an additional session for 1-1 clients. At its heart is the connection between how to regulate our nervous system so that we can steady ourselves and communicate with more clarity, control and composure with practical templates and guided practice techniques.
It improves not just our presentations, but conversations at work and even relationships at home.
If you’d like to discuss how I can help you to speak more confidently and make impact whilst using your relaxed conversational style, please get in touch.
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