Speak With Confidence and Remove All Doubt

In today’s fast-moving communication-driven world, messages are conveyed through many mediums. “Speaking with confidence” means avoiding tentative language. Non-concrete or tentative language in business shows a lack of self-confidence and will not deliver the strength of your intention to the listeners.

For example:

Non-concrete – “I hope I’ve given you a good overview of our team.”
Concrete – “This gives you a clear overview of our team.”

Non-concrete – “I guess I can deliver this talk confidently.”
Concrete – “I can deliver this talk confidently.”

Watch out for these words in your opening thoughts and phrases, particularly when speaking: I think, I hope, I guess, maybe, kind of, and sort of.

To check yourself on this, take a look at the last three emails you’ve written. Do you have tentative language in the beginnings of some paragraphs? Are those words there intentionally? If you see these words, pull them out and reread the sentence. Does it now convey what you really mean?

When preparing to do a live presentation, take the time to make some notes and read those notes out loud.  Audiotape yourself, then listen back. That level of preparation creates muscle memory. You’ll be less likely to spontaneously add these words and absolutely deliver a more confident message.

Monica Murphy is a senior coaching partner with The Speech Improvement Company.

Author

Spread the love

Author

MORE POSTS

Mastering the Art of Executive Communication: How to Speak the Language of C-Level Decision Makers

Picture this: You’ve got a brilliant idea—backed by research, data, and trends. You’re excited to share it with Diane, the C-suite executive who has only a few minutes to spare. But before you can even get to your point, her eyes glaze over and you hear the dreaded words: “Can you get to the point?”Sound familiar? You know your idea is valuable, but the way you present it is the key to capturing executive attention.

Spread the love

A Healthy Dose of FOMO for Managers

If you are a manager or supervisor of people, communication is the foundation of what you do. Unfortunately, many managers underestimate the value of the communication coming from the people below them in their organization—theirdirect reports. Yet those at the bottom level of organizations—front-line workers—have a front-row seat to issues that arise on the most basic level for organizations. So why do managers so often fail to listen to their direct reports when it comes

Spread the love

Speak with Confidence Tips

Tip #1: Make them care Whether it’s an internal presentation, a meeting with potential buyers, a sales pitch, a job interview, a fireside chat, a PR segment, or a media interview, always ask yourself, “WHY SHOULD ANYONE CARE?” or “HOW CAN THIS STORY HELP OTHERS?” Remember, people will tune out if the content is solely about you. Tip #2: Get back to the media within one hour of a TV interview request First, get excited!

Spread the love

QUESTIONS? NEED HELP?

Tell us what’s on your mind: