By | Kiran Athar | hackspirit.com
Confidence is a crucial trait if you want to get far in your professional and personal life. It affects how people see and treat us, but also how we feel about ourselves!
Unfortunately, though, there are some behaviors that can make you seem less confident and sure of yourself.
The good news is, these behaviors are easy to stop, and with a little bit of practice, you could completely change the way you come across to the rest of the world!
Let’s start with the first behavior:
1) Constantly saying sorry
Sometimes we get into the habit of saying sorry (especially if you’re from the UK where we apologize to pretty much everyone and everything) but it can also be a huge indicator of low confidence.
You see, when you constantly apologize, especially if you’re not in the wrong, it makes you appear unsure of yourself and your decisions.
Try this:
Only apologize when necessary! And try to change your wording…Instead of saying, “I’m sorry if this is a dumb question” try saying, “I have a question that I’m not sure about.”
2) Using filler words
Are you the type of person who uses words and sounds like, “um”, “like, and, “you know”?
If so, using such filler words can make you seem less confident and uncertain about what you want to say. But I get it – the word “like” is used so heavily now, especially amongst our younger generations!
So, even if you’re not doing it consciously, it could still make you appear nervous or hesitant.
Try this:
Practice saying what you’re about to say in your head before verbalizing it. If you do make a mistake and use a filler word, pause, take a breath, and keep speaking but with the focus on NOT repeating the word again.
