Storytelling with You

chapter 10build your confidence

Let's kick off this chapter with a quick thought exercise. In a moment, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes. You'll take three deep breaths—in through your nose and out through your mouth. Then I want you to imagine that you have just given the most important presentation of your career, and it went fantastically well. Your audience was engaged. You changed their minds. They listened attentively, appreciated your perspective, and are now ready to act based on what you've shared. They applauded. People congratulated you afterwards on a job well done.

Go ahead: close your eyes, breathe, and envision the scene.

What does that success feel like? How does it show on your face and in your body? How does it express itself in your mind? Take a moment to identify several adjectives you would like others to use to describe you during that stellar presentation. When I do this activity, my list includes traits like comfortable, capable, self‐assured, engaging, and poised. Keep your selected attributes in mind; we'll refer back to them soon.

Knowing your content is one thing, but commanding the attention of a room and creating the scenario you just imagined in reality is another. In this chapter, we'll explore strategies that will help you build your confidence to present powerfully. To start, I'll ask you to record yourself and assess your skills today. From there, we'll dive into ways to establish presence through how you move and speak. We'll discuss ...