How To Speak With Confidence (Experts Advice)

Last Updated on October 26, 2024 by Joshua Isibor

As a person, regardless of your family background or career path, you must know how to speak with confidence. This is how you express yourself to others around you.

To survive in today’s world you must learn to sell yourself. You should be able to tell others your value and how you bring it to the table and why you must be given a chance.

Being a confident communicator is not something you can compromise whether you are in the corporate world or in the entrepreneurship line. You may be doing something really amazing but if you can’t confidently tell me what you do, then people are likely not to buy your idea.

Leaving career aside, let’s talk about family. If you are not a confident communicator, how do you talk to your family members? How do you table your quarries? Just how efficient will your communication be without confidence?

When you speak with confidence, people tend to listen and accept your opinions better than when you are fidgeting when talking. When you show signs of anxiety when speaking, it shows a lack of confidence.

So, if you don’t act like you have faith in what you are doing, why should I? If you don’t believe in yourself how do I?

It is important to note that no one was born an efficient communicator. Even those who show some level of it as innate abilities, still have to improve and develop on it. This means knowing how to speak confidently can be learned or developed.

There is never a downside to confidence. It makes people want to listen to you, it also speaks brilliancy. If you truly desire to be better at your career or even social life, speaking with confidence is a must-have. And yes! You can learn it and begin to build on it.

To begin this journey of self-development, you must overcome some obstacles called FEARS. When you overcome them, your communication becomes more effective and healthy.

Don’t allow the lack of confidence to steal the limelight from you, you are valued and you definitely have something to say.

These tools and tips that you need to develop this skill in here in this article so read and be ready to take action.

How can I talk confidently? (10 Sure Ways)

1. Always Prepare Beforehand

The very first thing you should do is to be prepared. You should intentionally sit down, and do research on the subject topic. And generally, you should take time to learn a bit of everything.

So that whenever a topic is raised in any important or casual conversation or meeting you could confidently say a word or two.

When you are somewhere and totally clueless or don’t have something to contribute, your confidence is shaken and this puts you on an edge. Then anxiety comes in probably because you know you may indulge or ask yourself a question personally to say something. And there, is where the problem lies.

It’s always safe to know a little about a lot than knowing a lot about a little. So you at least know something about most topics you will come across. However, when going for a speech. Prepare well. Do a lot of research and get a deep understanding of that topic.

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2. Try To Imagine It Ahead Of Time

After doing your research, the next step is to visualize it. Imagine yourself talking confidently with zero anxiety. See yourself doing it and that will form a type of self-motivation. Have winner and an overcomer’s mindset.

As mentioned earlier, you must overcome your fears and share your value with the world. Imagine yourself doing that perfect presentation, see yourself giving that top-notch speech. If you can see yourself do it, regardless of what any other person says, you will pull through.

3. Let Your Posture Speak Confidence

Now, you must let your audience know that you are confident using your body language. Your body posture, your walking step, even your smile must ooze confidence.

When walking ensure you stand tall and don’t cower, make sure your shoulders are straight beck don’t be caught slouching. Keep your head held up high and eyes up maintaining eye contact. When sitting, let your posture scream these three things ENGAGED, FOCUSED, and AUTHORITY.

Knowing these things is easier said than done. it makes end up being difficult. Even so, pretend like you own the moment. Because it only what you let on that people will know. So give them a good show.

4. Don’t Be In A Rush

Don’t forget that you own that moment so rule it. Don’t rush your sentences no matter much anxiety you feel. Rather, take a deep breath and take it slow.

Talking too fast in a speech is actually a really common sign of nervousness. And you do not want your audience to know you are nervous so at that moment what you need to do is take a deep breath.

Next is to take control of the situation before it goes out of control. Do this by just imagining you are talking to someone you are really comfortable with. If you are with a larger audience, then assume you are just speaking with your friends and start speaking with less urgency.

That way you are able to think of what you are about to say and align it properly. Practice speaking in a ‘not rushed manner often in your comfortable space.

5. Don’t Divert From Current Topics

During your speech, you may want to give examples using scenarios and at that point, there is a tendency to divert.  Try to focus on the topic at hand and don’t go too deep into explaining examples.

When you do this, not only does it speak confidence; it also speaks intelligence. It shows you have full control of your speech. Also, don’t be too focused on what to say next, instead digress on the current point very well. This will ensure a smooth transition.

6. Use Silence Between Sentences Wisely

This doesn’t involve you saying something and keeping quiet for a long time it will only get your audience disconnected. Actually, what this involves is you saying a key point and letting the audience process it for seconds.

On many occasions, you may have said all you have to say at that point and your audience was supposed to respond yet you got none.

And it leads to a very awkward silence; leave it be. Don’t try to fill the silence with nervous chatters.

Standing on what you have said and not trying to fill in meaningless chatter shows you are confident about the subject matter and that earns you respect.

7. Have Breath Control.

Control your breath during conversations slow and steadily. Try to maintain the same tone from start to finish and let your speech hold a steady and confident pace.

It is an unwritten rule that the person who is confident will speak in the same tone in a gentle way. If possible, do a breathing exercise before your speech.

And when you find yourself speaking too fast or losing control of your tone during a speech, pause, take 2-3 deep breaths before you continue. Do this stylishly in such a way that your audience will not know what you are doing.

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8. Talk In Low Volume And Project Your Voice.

When you are talking, try not to talk loudly but project your voice so your audience can hear you. Talking loudly affects the quality of your voice making it look like you are shouting.

It also makes you get tired easily during conversation or speech that requires a long time of talking like two hours and above. Aside from that, talking loudly shows a sign of disrespect towards your audience especially the elderly, and no one really wants to listen to a voice like that.

So, regardless of how valuable the information you are trying to pass is, no one will listen if you are screaming.

9. Speak Clearly

When talking, let your speech be clear. Don’t fidget when presenting your idea because that just shows a lack of confidence.

Try not to use words like uhmm, erhhh, and other sloppy words. When you speak in public, ask someone to record your speech this is to do a self-evaluation.

The best way to discipline yourself is to know which soppy words or phrases you repeat and try to avoid them by practicing in private

10. Smile While Speaking

Being warm to people is a hack that can never go wrong. Smiling to a crowd or audience before you speak is a good way to grab their attention.

It’s very welcoming. Speaking with a smile on your face helps maintain a warm ambiance. It really shows a lot of courage if you are saying something serious with a smile.

A shy smile is not what we are talking about here but the type that captures every stare that comes its way. Smiling while talking can also help the quality of your voice with a touch of friendliness and composure. You know it’s not actually about what you say but how you say it.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, learning to talk confidently takes Practice. It is the one thing that can aid your improvement over time.

Even when you know these skills in communication if you don’t apply them consistently you may not get the desired result. So you have to regularly practice these things to imbibe them.

As you practice, make time for self-evaluation. As you do this over time you become more confident. Also, practice without a timetable. Practice at every opportunity you get and you will become a better and more efficient communicator.

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Originally posted 2021-10-09 12:00:08.