Confidence is Key

I have stage fright. Always have, likely always will. It’s crippling. As soon as I step out in front of the crowd, I freeze. And yet, when a friend of mine came around asking for a volunteer emcee for our talent show, I said I’d do it.
My plan was literally “fake it till you make it” in this scenario. I had absolutely no idea how to handle my fear.

When the time came, I stepped out onto the stage. I was gripping the mic in my hand so hard it almost hurt and I kept praying that I wouldn’t fall. I looked out into the crowd and, by some stroke of luck, I spotted a friend sitting not too far away from the stage. Throughout the show I looked at her, spoke to her, as if nobody else was listening.

It was a great strategy. I started off smoothly and by the end of the show I was doing the job perfectly well. My stomach still twisted and my heart still raced, but I was managing.

The human brain is very easily manipulated. If you lie to yourself enough, you start to believe it. If you tell yourself you’re confident, you start to feel confident. If the people around you feel that you’re confident in yourself, they’re comfortable spending time with you. They look forward to being with you.

Going out into the world without confidence is not a good idea. The world is tough and if you haven’t got any faith in yourself the world will tear you down. You need to be strong, able to take criticism, able to get back up after you fall down. You need to know that failure does not determine your self worth nor does it invalidate any work you’ve put into your project.

If all else fails, faking confidence is almost as effective as actually being confident. In many situations, nobody can really tell the difference.