As you may be reminded on the daily, people appear to be severely disconnected from the art of communication and engaging in reasonable debate. The days of agreeing to disagree, shaking hands after a difficult conversation, speaking one’s mind with confidence they won’t be harmed, and remaining civil seem like the distant past. The youngest generation reading this may even question, was it ever a thing to be adept at managing a discussion that took an unexpected turn for the worse?
Many speakers have an extremely hard time believing communication confidence is achievable in ‘crucial conversations.’
1. Reassurance
The facts are that 75% of the population experiences speaking fear. The fateful belief you will endure a lifetime of lacking communication confidence is crippling. The digital world promotes perfection. The number of followers is a widely considered metric for your expert credibility. Consumers are overloaded, bombarded, and exhausted with recycled content and ineffective solutions. As a result, many people are skeptical that overcoming speaking fear is within reach.
Several tips to consider:
Don’t play small for fear of not being good enough. When you play small then your body and voice will be small. And yes, your audience will perceive you as not being good enough. Technique: Open up, be loud, and make yourself big.
Innovation changes the world. Your ability to improve people’s lives with your ideas, products, and solutions is reason enough to speak out. Critiquing yourself for not being perfect and brilliant at winning every conversation is self-defeating. I believe the world needs to hear your voice, even when it shakes.
2. Expert advice
As a personal coach, I am aware of the current situation. Instructors who tell thousands of people to do the same thing do not account for the individual’s needs. I am a credible expert who not only provides a variety of alternatives to my private coaching sessions, but I provide free content to specific speakers’ concerns. If you have a nagging question about how to conquer a particular weakness in speaking out leave a comment on my YouTube channel, connect on LinkedIn, DM me on Instagram, or send a direct email to Laura@memphisspeech.com so I can provide a video reply.
3. Consistency and accountability
Always remember, “It’s not a failure if you keep trying.” Learned helplessness and avoidance of speaking your mind are only hurting you. Conversely, being overly aggressive and antagonistic to force what you want only hurts you and others, too. Accountability and consistency are everything. As you keep trying, you will eventually find a balance and your communication confidence will soar.
