It's all about the confidence - Creative Women International

How to be more confident is one of the most asked questions that I get from my clients and students. Having worked in the creative industries for over 24 years I have met people with tonnes of confidence and others who are incredibly shy. (Many actors I have met are shy!)

I used to be incredibly shy myself. I forced myself to take drama classes, but would feel sick with fear every time I went on stage. Jump forwards to now, and I have spoken live on television, and even read the lottery numbers out for a New Year Special to over 10 million people!

Now I’m not saying that you want to go on stage or deliver a live broadcast (but that might be your long term goal!). Sometimes we need a bit more confidence to deliver that project or stand up in front of our colleagues to deliver a presentation, but right now the very thought of it might make you want to run and hide under the covers.

Ways to make you more confident

There are ways that I can help you to be more confident. It doesn’t happen over night, but small steps lead to greater results in the long run.

Start with why

You might have a particular reason that you want to be more confident.
I would start by imagining yourself at that moment in the future.

How do you feel?

How do you look?

Who is there supporting you in person, or behind the scenes?

Next I want you to imagine what the worst thing would be if it happened.

You might be wondering why on earth I would ask you that. Being able to think about the worst actually helps us to prepare for it, and by preparing for the worst (even if it doesn’t happen) can help to take some of the fear away from it.

What would your plan B look like if the worst happened?

Why could you go to for help, support or skill sharing to make it happen?

There are other areas that you need to work on for your future confidence

Posture and the way you hold yourself.
This is something that takes time, but there is a quick 2 minute fix that you can do before you have to speak in public or go to a job interview. They call it The Wonder Women Pose.
Standing with your feet hip width apart and your hands on your hips with your head held up high. This can actually lower the stress hormones in your body and increase testosterone, tricking your body into believing you are more confident.There is always an element of having to make ourselves slightly more uncomfortable before we can move forwards to the next level of confidence.You can find more about this in these articles and podcast that I created.

Confidence is the most important thing

Your voice and the language you use.

We need to remove the just and the sorry from our vocabulary, both on and offline. I go into detail about this in the above podcast.

The main reason for removing these, is that it makes the person that you are talking to think that you aren’t capable or that you don’t have the confidence to deliver what you are promising. You know that isn’t the case, so you need to tell them that too!

The Business Of Creativity

I’ve written more about how you can develop your own confidence to help you succeed in my Book.

Mentoring

Sometimes you need more help to grow your confidence and creative career. You might feel that your lack of confidence is holding you back. That is when mentoring can really make a difference. I have seen such incredible results from my mentoring clients when they opened up and we worked on building their confidence. You can find out more here: Mentoring

I know from my own experience in the past, that it can hinder you getting what you want from your career until you address it.

Philiy provided me with just the right support and insight I needed to move forward with my business. I was hoping for advise on promotions and expansion but what I received was that and much more. She had thought about my business inside and out from a clear perspective, and she demonstrated how I could take steps in every area from customer communication to social media strength to promotional timings to making my bigger long term visions come true.
Lisa Juice bar and café owner. UK

I met with Philiy having just set up a new small business a couple of months earlier and was finding the learning curves overwhelming and confusing. Through her clarity and objective creative stance, she allowed me to focus on my original vision for the business, bringing new ideas and perspectives as well as helping me tease out the important aspects that needed attention. This lessened the overwhelming feelings which was a real help at a difficult time.
Janey Yoga Space. UK

As someone who is at the start up phase of a long term project and business the Creative Women International has been an invaluable resource of information, advice and support. Having a well used online network at hand to both answer questions and positively receive my input had been a real boost during the times I have been stuck in a rut.
Hannah London, UK

Philiy has been a great help to me in regards to starting my own creative business. She has aided me in developing new ideas and strategies to help take my business forward and has a wealth of knowledge relating to the creative industry. It is always a pleasure to discuss new possibilities and avenues with which to take my business as Philiy has a friendly and positive approach but is always realistic about your businesses potential too. If you’re looking for advice and guidance in helping build your creative business I would definitely recommend Philiy.
Thomas Ray Gun Press, UK