5 Takeaways from Webinar: Secrets to Projecting Confidence in Any Situation
By Morgan Cruz, MHI Marketing Content Coordinator | @mhi_morgan
Last week MHI’s Young Professionals Network (MHIYPN) hosted webinar, Secret to Projecting Confidence in Any Situation presented by Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self-Promotion for Introverts. Nancy presented techniques for projecting an aura of confidence that works in any circumstance, especially when you’re in the hot seat with demanding bosses and colleagues. Here are five impactful takeaways that will elevate your confidence and open new doors in your career.
Nancy Ancowitz, Business Communication Coach and Author | @NancyAncowitz
1. Don’t fake it until you make it. Fake it until you become it.
Being capable and being confident don’t always go hand in hand. Confidence can actually have little to do with your competence. Often society identifies competence with signs of confidence such as voice projection, upright posture, and eye contact. Nancy says, “it’s okay to act a role even if you do not feel you have earned it yet”. By controlling your projected confidence you can transform the way you think about yourself and therefore the way people think about you.
2. Employ power poses to pump yourself up.
Nancy shared an interesting tip from Professor Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk on high and low power poses. Cuddy’s research shows that assuming a power pose for two minutes can alter your physiology pumping you up with power hormones raising your testosterone and lowing your cortisol (stress hormone). Power poses include arms up and chin in the air, hands on the hips or feet up on your desk. Postitions in which you collapse your body or put your hands behind your neck are lower power posses and lower your power hormones.
3. Prepare smartly because knowledge is power.
Do research and know as much as you can about the topic of a meeting or the company you are interviewing with. You will feel prepared and therefore more calm, collected and confident. Whatever the circumstance, having more knowledge of the situation before it happens will position you with more power. Nancy reminds us that “no one knows everything, and there is no shame in not having all of the answers”. It is okay to say “Let me look more into that and I will get back to you”. Admitting you do not know everything shows you are comfortable in your own skin.
4. Play to your strengths and work around your challenges.
Identify the value you bring to your employers. Figure out what you are good at and play to those strengths. Focusing on your positives will help you walk taller and project the best version of yourself. Nancy shared a key tip saying, “position yourself as focused on benefiting the organizations and people your work with. When you do that you come across as looking to contribute to the organization making it a better place, rather than someone who just needs a job”. This shows you are invested in the company and it’s goals.
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. There is no shame in identifying your challenges and making plans to address them. For example, Nancy suggests if you are not comfortable speaking in front of a group of people try taking a public speaking class or put your self in a situation that forces you to speak publicly. The more you practice your weaknesses the stronger they will become.
5. Find a role model and ask yourself what you can learn from his/her image.
Everything thing you say and do at work shapes your personal brand – even your outer appearance. Naturally what you wear and how you are groomed conveys information visually. It is important to look the role you want to obtain. Nancy suggests for you to find a role model and ask what you can learn from his/her image.
View the full webinar Secrets to Projecting Confidence in Any Situation and see other webinar recordings made possible by the MHI Young Professionals Network. You do not have to be an MHI member to participate. Join the MHIYPN mailing list and get notified of our next webinar: Happiness in the Workplace: How to Lower Costs, Increase Productivity and Maximize Profits by Making Happiness a Priority.
