cOnfIdEncE fInd YOUr STraTEgY Sharon White

If being confident in a social setting is something you need to work on, you can prepare questions or topics to talk about ahead of time, get a feeling of the flow of the conversation and then speak when you are ready.

If having the confidence to do public speaking is the thing you need most. You can start small and build your way to the goal you want to achieve. You can start by practising with a friend in your living room. Once you have confidence to do that. Invite 5 friends. Then keep growing your audience. The more you do something and the more you practise your skills, the better you get.

Here Are 5 Ways To Show Confidence With Body Language

· Smile to build rapport with others. · Look up. (Many people who lack confidence look towards the ground). · Look people in the eye (make eye contact but don’t stare). · Hold your body posture tall and in a strong position. · Wear clothes that make you feel good.

These tips are simple but you need to start somewhere. I am sure you can see that there are some simple steps you can take towards being more confident.

Confidence covers: self-empowerment, belief systems, breaking habits and embracing a 'shift' in perception. Having confidence to heal. Confidence to be your true self and so much more.

As you can see this is a huge topic that our experts will help you with. When you have finished reading this magazine you will know how to find the tools to find your inner confidence. Then you can empower yourself to live the life you want and find the confidence to be your true self.

Enjoy.

Founder of Holistic Living Magazine

Cassandra Jones

Editor at large

Please use the information you learn in these magazine as a guide.

This content is not medical advice and is not intended to replace the advice of healthcare professionals.

Always consult your doctor or other healthcare professional before beginning or making health changes.

You should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this magazine.

ConfidenCe iS SuCh an odd thing

Confidence is such an odd thing isn’t it; this edition has lots of great info about confidence, how it works and so on. But how is it that you get confidence? What do you do to keep it, strengthen it? Hopefully after you’ve read these few words you will have some ideas for yourselves on how to do just that.

Many years ago, I was doing a course and it involved a lot of public speaking, and as part of the course we were coached on just that task. The Professor taking the course went through the usual platitudes about speaking and how it is one of the most fearful things in life, but he balanced it with some advice. He asked if anyone could ride a bike and asked how did people feel when they started? Fear was a common emotion. Pain shortly after starting (for me it was crashing into a car!!) But then you got better, you could ride, and quickly.

His point was that everything starts off terrible, even if you have done something similar, you won’t be very good. With time and practice it will get better. A couple of years ago I did a refresher course on public speaking with Toastmasters, even though I got pretty good many years ago, I was approaching this course with a lot of trepidation. I’d not presented much in the intervening years; a bad experience left me somewhat scared of doing it again. But along I went, and much like the Professor said, it was like riding a back, I just needed to get back to it, and remember how to not um, and how to not stumble over my lines. Within no time I was back to being comfortable and enjoying the experience.

This isn’t all about me though. A few years ago, in one of the Gymnastic Olympic trials, Laurie Hernandez, was caught on video saying “I got this.” While watching her saying to herself that she got this is rather wonderful to watch, it also goes to the heart of what confidence really is. It is something ephemeral, fleeting and quite fragile. One day you can be confident, then next right down in the dumps.

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It needs constant reinforcement, through words and deeds. Just like a wonderful garden, entropy will creep in unless it is tended and nurtured. You need to do things constantly to reinforce your abilities, you need to take yourself out of that comfort zone, do things that you are scared of.

In recent years I’ve done painting (terrible at it), acting, also terrible, but enjoyed it so much I’m going to do stand-up classes, all in the name of pushing myself and reinforcing my core confidence. So, I suggest you all go out and find something that scares you silly, not necessarily something like base jumping, but something that is a challenge and you wouldn’t normally do it. And go do it!!

Editor at large