Find your VOICE

Try these simple steps to become a more confident communicator, says Kellie Gillespie-Wright

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Do you ever feel like you have the right words in your mind, but they get lost in translation when you start speaking? Maybe you've walked out of a meeting wishing you'd been more assertive, or you've felt anxious about presenting your ideas in the first place. You're not alone - communicating with confidence is a skill many of us desire but struggle to master. The good news is that confidence isn't something we're born with; it's something we can build, step by step.

To uncover what it takes to communicate confidently, we spoke with life coach Chantal Dempsey about the nature of confidence, why so many of us wrestle with self-doubt, and how we can create lasting change in the way we think about ourselves and communicate with others.

Understanding confidence: the foundation of everything

Before we dive into techniques, it's important to understand what confidence truly means. According to Dempsey, confidence is about inner trust: 'Confidence is the belief that whatever happens, you will be OK and you will have the resilience to deal with it,' she says. It's not about being fearless or never having doubts. It's about trusting that you can handle whatever life throws at you, even if it's outside your comfort zone.

This trust in yourself is 'the building block of everything in life', says Dempsey. She explains: 'Your level of confidence and self-esteem will dictate how you experience and interpret your own reality.' When you feel confident, you're less likely to experience chronic anxiety or fear. As Dempsey puts it: 'Anxiety is worrying about what has happened or what might happen, but if you feel confident that you will be able to handle anything with resilience, that worry doesn't come up in your mind.'