Feigning confidence: 5 tips

Confidence. What is it?

• Trust or faith in a person or thing.
• A feeling of assurance, especially of self-assurance.
• The state or quality of being certain.
• The firm belief in one’s powers, abilities, or capacities.

So, what if you don’t have any confidence?

Can you get it?

Find out!

Here are “5 Tips for Feigning Confidence”, striaght out of the chapter “Feigning Confidence” in “Performing in The Zone.”

Now, just a small aside, these tips could very well be renamed to “5 Tips for Gaining Confidence”.

Try them, and you’ll see what I mean

Tip 1: Posture:
Sit or stand with an erect posture – relaxed, with a straight spine, your chest up and shoulders back. Your head should be directly on top of your spine, effortlessly balanced on a relaxed neck, and not slumped forwards or to one side of you.

Tip 2: Eye contact
Briefly make eye contact with other people or members of your audience if appropriate.  You don’t need to try to stare them down, simply show them that you are an open person, willing to communicate.

Tip 3: Smile
If appropriate in your performance situation, a smile can go a long way to making your audience feel at ease.  Their comfort level is then automatically directed back to you, and can give you a sense of security.

Tip 4: Be playful
Being a little light-hearted or playful in non-performing situations can have the knock-on effect of making any performance situation seem less of a ‘big deal’, helping your confidence.

Tip 5: Remember
Remember who you are and where you come from.  Be proud of your achievements thus far.  Celebrate your uniqueness.  In addition, remember that you have a worth.  You have a value, and in performing you are adding value not only to your own life, but the lives of others.

You can begin practising Feigning Confidence by entering any situation where there are people present that you have previously not met before – social gatherings, cafés, and shops are ideal locations.

Respectful confidence

An important note here.  There is a significant difference between confidence and arrogance.  Be respectful and charming – that’s confidence!

By demonstrating respectful confidence, feigned or not, you communicate to others that you have a high personal self-esteem, self-worth, and value.  Other people, whether they be audience members or locals at a bar or nightclub, automatically sense this.  Knowing that you are viewed as having a high value can reinforce your confidence.  In this way, it doesn’t matter if your original confidence was feigned or not, as within a short space of time, you will be experiencing real confidence!

Whether you are entering a performance or non-performance situation, remember that if you are not feeling confident, all you have to do to achieve confidence is pretend!