We can all be confident when we are sure of ourselves and knowledgeable about the situation in which we find ourselves. But what happens when we are not so sure and when we are forced to step outside our comfort zone? What happens to our thinking?

First we need to control our thinking then we need to develop techniques for remaining confident in a wide variety of scenarios and to catch ourselves when confidence begins to wane.

11 Techniques to Boost Self-Confidence

First of all lets demolish a myth that some people believe about confidence You dont have to be an expert in something to have confidence.

You can have 2 people learning a new task, and one person is learning to do the task with confidence, while the other is making lots of mistakes and getting flustered. Its not about how well you do a particular task, but how you feel inside as you are doing it that makes you confident. If I had to choose to be confident in one area only, I would make that area learning whilst making mistakes.

First identify a situation where you would like to be more confident, for example:

o In meetings with an important person

o Giving presentations

o Giving honest feedback

o Visiting a client

o In a sales context

o Networking with friends and prospective business associates

o Meeting new friends

o At parties

o Beginning a new hobby/evening class

Write your situation here:

TECHNIQUE 1 - Context Switch

List 5 situations, in a similar context to the one you have identified above, where you are usually confident.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Next, imagine you are re-enacting one of the contexts above, feeling very confident, and answer the following questions:

1. How do you feel when you have this confidence?

2. How do you hold yourself?

3. What is going through your mind?

4. Do you have any inner dialogue? What is it saying?

5. On what are you focusing your attention?

Now adopt the thinking, inner dialogue, posture and emotions you have when confident, at times where you are lacking confidence.