Do you remember the most popular girl in high school? She wasn't necessarily the prettiest, the most athletic or the smartest, but she was the one who told everyone that she was popular. She walked around with her head held high and commanded attention.
Business can be much like high school in that those who are most successful, are often the very people who show confidence and tell others of their success.
Business can be much like high school in that those who are most successful, are often the very people who show confidence and tell others of their success.
In Amy Cuddy's book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, she speaks of what this confidence can mean when asking for funding.
“After meticulously analyzing videos of 185 venture capital presentations — looking at both verbal and nonverbal behavior — Lakshmi ended up with results that surprised her: the strongest predictor of who got the money was not the person’s credentials or the content of the pitch. The strongest predictors of who got the money were these traits: confidence, comfort level, and passionate enthusiasm.”
So knowing that being bold, confident and self-assured is important, how can we find these traits within ourselves?
Often times, the first person we must convince is ourselves and the place to start is with our presence. Amy states in her book that “Presence emerges when we feel personally powerful, which allows us to be acutely attuned to our most sincere selves.”
What makes you feel powerful? For me it may be a morning run, a pep talk (by my husband, staff or myself) or listening to a great song before going to pitch my services to a new client.
Amy uses the Superman stance (you know the one - hands on hips, chest out, head held high). Finding a private place to feel big and powerful before events where 'presence' is most needed.
We all have ways we can boost our on confidence, so when it's time to walk down the hallways of life, we are the most popular.
1 comment
- 05/04/16
Great article, I managed to make it happen once or twice, and i really been successful one time
but no more. Really need to give it a few more efforts before
I just give up. You merely live life one time
The first time opinion, but I have actually preferred
your content!
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