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When someone is evaluating you as a prospective business or person to work with they will often base their decision on 3 main criteria.
- Your product or service on offer (this may be your own skill set)
- Your reputation (or company’s reputation)
- YOU!
5 min read
Often it’s the third aspect of you and your own CONFIDENCE which will determine how the top two aspects are received and the outcome of a meeting.
Come across as a professional that believes in themselves, reputation and what they have to offer and your chances of walking away with the deal vastly improves.
If you come across as aloof, bored and even confused with your service then you better hope you have the best product since sliced bread as you will most probably be shown the door.
Hip-Hop legend Curtis Jackson (50cent) once said “Just be confident. I think confidence is the most attractive part of a person”.
Confidence is attractive as it displays power and control and these attributes connect to security and safety which is a primal instinct built into us all.
A person that displays confidence will offer us a sense of security that they are the right person for the job, so it may pay to learn how to display confidence in all that you do.
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In this blog we’ll share our top 3 reasons on why you should be confident, 3 tips on how to gain confidence and finally our top 3 guidelines on how to display confidence.
Why you should be confident
1. More opportunities
2. Dependable, more work
3. Raise your own bar
How to gain confidence
4. Stick at it and build experience
5. Internally believe
6. Practice
How to display confidence
7. First contact
8. Body language
9. Dress immaculately
Why should you be confident?
1. More opportunities
As described in the introduction, confident people are often considered attractive and as such tend to have large networks of people that enjoy working with them or those that wish to work with them. This means confident people will often be contacted by this network when opportunities arise more so than those that are introverted or shy.
2. Dependability
Because confident people exude success they are often attributed dependability as a personality trait helping their own personal profile and reputation, again opening opportunities and self-satisfaction.
3. Raise your own bar
It’s human nature to enjoy compliments about status and position, it’s based on self-preservation.
Confident people are generally high achievers and often considered best in class, they will often defend that reputation and continually look to develop their own skill sets to hold this position.
These individuals Love to Learn and as expectations of them rise they will raise their own expectations, continually getting stronger and then exuding more confidence.
How you can gain more confidence?
4. Stick at it and build experience
Confidence is often a by-product of knowledge. Experience is the best way to gain knowledge as it’s normally how you learn by being involved.
Sometimes experiences aren’t positive ones but often this is valuable because painful experiences resonate in our memories motivating us to avoid discomfort again.
Positive experiences on the other hand gives you a great foundation for feeding confidence.
Doing something well brings happiness, you then review it, refine it and repeat it, continually improving on every cycle. Exposure to multiple cycles allows you to understand things innately once again giving you confidence through positive experience.
5. Internally believe
Confidence comes from within. It’s something we can nurture and feed with desire and experience. It is self-empowerment that comes from the 3 C’s of confidence:
- Certainty of your belief in your ability.
- Clarity of thought when thinking and discussing a solution.
- Courage to embrace the challenge in front of you.
6. Practice
In the Book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell said it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.
Our core principle here is it takes practice to learn how to do something great. Practice gives you the chance to get things wrong and learn. From that exposure you will gain confidence as the thing you practice will become easier to execute.
So as they say ‘Practice makes perfect’.
How to Display Confidence
7. First contact
Upon meeting people for the first time compose yourself, take a deep breath (oxygen is food for your brain).
Greet your guest with a smile. The smile is a universal sign of good will, it’s contagious and is found to release happy endorphins into the brain. So, anything that can help a person feel good about meeting you is a must.
The handshake; Make sure your hands are clean and dry (be conscious if it is warm your hands are not sweaty or clammy). Your handshake should be firm and assertive but not crushing.
Be sure to look your guest directly in the eyes throughout your meeting trying to keep eye contact and engaged for at least 70%-75% of the meeting.
8. Body language
There are several simple body language tricks to make sure you portray confidence. When meeting someone whilst stood, plant your feet shoulder width apart with balance shared between both feet; slouching or casually resting on one leg may make you look aloof and uninterested.
Make sure your arms are open and not crossed, keep your shoulders back and your spine straight to avoid being seen as closed off. The same rules apply when seated in a meeting.
9. Dress immaculately
Before you open your mouth, how you present yourself will be evaluated by your guest, so it’s important you make a great impression. Clothing is a visual clue into who and what type of person we are.
In respect of confidence wearing the correct attire can make you feel great. Most people love to get dressed up to boast their confidence, so it is an integral tool used to layer yourself in success.
Conclusion
Confidence is something you can gain over time if you desire it. Follow the points in this blog to start your journey towards a more confident and successful future.