Study Guide G10 ~ Life Orientation
Unit
1
Action plan Actions
Who is involved?
What do I need?
When must it be completed?
LESSON 1.1.4: Strategies to build self-confidence and confidence in others Self-confidence is the understanding that you trust your own judgement and abilities. It simply means having faith in yourself. Confidence is shown in different ways. It can be the way you behave, in other words how you communicate and your body language. Confidence is the term we use to describe how we feel about our ability to perform roles, functions and tasks. Confident people are generally more positive towards the world and the people around them and about their daily actions and tasks. Becoming more knowledgeable about different issues, often talking to people and practising positive thinking are all useful ways to improve your levels of confidence. (Skills You Need, n.d.) Improve communication skills It is not always easy for everybody to do presentations or to have difficult conversations. To communicate with confidence, you need to know what you want to say and clearly say what you want. Tips for confident communication • A stable clear voice. Practise to talk without whispers or stammering. • Make eye contact with your audience. • Listen attentively to others. • Be assertive. Do not confuse self-confidence with aggressiveness. • Speak from the heart – if you are passionate about what you say, you will feel more confident. (Matta, 2012) Plan to complete tasks successfully and on time Finishing tasks gives a feeling of accomplishment and promotes self-confidence. Stop procrastinating and start doing what needs to be done. Proper time management skills are equally as important as proper communication skills. Useful guidelines • Keep a planner where you plan your activities and manage your time to keep to your deadlines. • Remove all distractions, e.g. TV, social media, phone. • Congratulate yourself on all tasks completed successfully and on time and reward yourself.
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