When we attend a lecture, we generally go to see the speaker not to hear what they have to say. We know what they have to say. That’s why we go to see them.

How many speeches have your heard? How many of them can you remember?

Words, words, words and words.

In a song, we remember firstly the melody and then we learn the words. Instead of giving people the benefit of your wit and wisdom, try painting them a picture.

The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.

Confident people are more likely to perform well and it is a known fact that enhancing confidence levels boosts one’s performance. Self-confidence is often mistaken for self-esteem but these are two different things. Self-esteem is the way one feels about him or herself – t is an evaluated judgment about oneself. A person with high self-esteem is highly critical about themselves despite being confident of doing well.

Most people have an inner map that determines their confidence levels in different situations. The most important ingredient for success in any field is a strong sense of self-confidence. Some people for instance, are sure about them when interacting with others and can strike conversations with complete strangers. If a person is confident in diverse situations, he or she has greater chance of success in line.

Templates of this map or schema that determine self-confidence are based on two types of beliefs: The first is belief of possibilities. This refers to what one believes is possible. A shy person believing that it possible to strike up a conversation with a good-looking stranger is a good example. If you believe that something is impossible, it is likely that you will never attempt to do it.

The second type is belief of capability i.e. what an individual is capable of achieving. Ask yourself, “Am I capable of learning how to be confident in the situation I desire?” Be it social, academics or something else.

One technique is visualisation to re-programme one’s mind and change the beliefs that rob your sense of ease while doing something. These techniques also enhance self-esteem. Hypnosis or self-hypnosis is another method of changing one’s beliefs and learning how to be more confident. But one should be careful, as hypnosis bypasses critical filters of the mind and unless skilfully done, can cause adverse reactions.

In addition to changing one’s inner map or schema, it is also important to step out of your ‘comfort zone’ and translate this into action by trying out new behaviours. It is imperative that you keep doing this so that you gradually stretch yourself into becoming confident and effective in more areas of life and thus, more successful