Building your Confidence

Photo credits: Dr. Annette Colby

Everyone is aware of how important it is to feel confident throughout your life and in everything you do. Confidence is something that shows on our faces, through our body language, and in our speech. The satisfaction of feeling confident is indescribable; it is when you know that you can accomplish anything and everything and that nothing is bigger or better than you for not to achieve it.

Photo credit: Big Happy Funhouse

I was recently thinking about how to build my confidence because as a University student now, I should be as comfortable I can be with all the diverse types of scenarios that can come across in my life. Examples include job interviews, presentations, debates and overall speaking out loud in general! After thinking and analyzing, I discovered one fact (or tip) in order to help feel confident in any situation possible and that is that one needs to master in only one area of comfort: Public speaking.

Ever since I found this, I knew instantly that this is what causes the most unease to people during an interaction and is the reason why people ultimately feel less confident. Considering this, I decided to enroll into a GNED course: Introduction to Public Speaking (SPCH 2001) and build upon my confidence while speaking with others in any situation.
I would like to share what I have learnt from that course here today so that we can all be confident together! Let us start:

• First and foremost, a person's posture while they speak is very important. Slouching, folding your hands, and fidgeting are common signs of unease and should be avoided. Instead, stay relaxed with your arms to your side and try maintaining a firm stance.
• Second, eye contact is an immediate determinant of confidence level. Do not force yourself to look into someone's face (that is very noticeable!) but just occasionally remember to connect with your audience while talking to let them know that you are active during your conversation.
• Third, tone of voice should be clear and loud enough to be audible to your listener without them constantly leaning in to hear or repeating 'pardon' after every sentence. The tone of voice also symbolizes power and thus it should always be leveled. 

Those were some effective tips to help you feel and look confident while speaking in public. I hope they will help and enable you to become a more successful public speaker and never ( this will happen gradually!) experience unease during your everyday interactions.