Confidence is always a tricky subject to address. Especially when it comes to presenting. Have too little of it, and you lack authority. You undermine your message. Have too much of it, and you lack approachability. Again, you undermine your message. And yet, we know that confidence is an important factor when it comes to giving a presentation. So you can assume that I’m talking about a healthy amount of confidence here. Because when it is balanced, it is a really good thing for a presenter to have.
In fact, we’ve built whole portions of our company around helping people become confident speakers. And that’s because we know presenting with confidence has many benefits for both you, the speaker, and for the audience you are addressing.
Today, we are going to dig into 3 of the lesser-known benefits of having confidence. First, the effect confidence has on your brain, the effect it has on the audience, and the persuasive power it gives your message. Let’s get started.
1. Your thoughts flow more smoothly.
If we know one thing about fear, it’s this: it messes with our brain. Study after study has proven that it’s difficult, if not downright impossible, to think rationally when we are feeling afraid. So developing confidence in your speaking abilities will help your thoughts flow more smoothly. But why does that happen?
Arash Javanbakht and Linda Saab of The Smithsonian say that “fear creates distraction.” So “When something scary happens, in that moment, we are on high alert and not preoccupied with other things that might be on our mind (getting in trouble at work, worrying about a big test the next day), which brings us to the here and now.” That natural, biological mechanism can be great if we need to escape an aggressive dog or swerve out of the way of an oncoming car.
But when we are in a situation that isn’t truly dangerous, that sense of fear inhibits us from taking in vital information or responding rationally. It creates a hyper focus state to which our body responds. Our pupils dilate, blood rushes to our core, our breathing grows more shallow and rapid. And our brain kicks into a panic state.
As Annie Mueller writes for Success.com, “fear . . . redirects your thinking. Normally, sensory inputs take a long, leisurely route through your prefrontal cortex, where they are evaluated. Logical, abstract moral, and creative thinking all happen here. Fear gives your sensory inputs a short-cut, straight to your emotional, instinctive center: the amygdala. Here you get quick, concrete, reactive, specific thinking and emotionally or instinctively-driven decisions.” However, if you can fight your fear with confidence, all parts of your brain will remain open to accessibility during your presentation. Something which is extremely valuable.
2. The audience is more relaxed.
You’d probably agree that fear is contagious, right? I’ve watched my nieces and nephews grow increasingly afraid of bugs and spiders because my sister screams and runs anytime one gets near her. Scientists tell us that we usually learn fear in two ways. First, through experience—having our own experiences or watching the experiences of others, as is the case with my nieces and nephews.
But that’s not the only way we learn to be fearful. In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman says “fear can also be learned—quite easily, in fact—by words rather than by experience.” He goes on to talk about how firefighters or soldiers are taught (via lecture or lesson) to prepare for fearful situations they have probably never experienced. When it comes to public speaking, we are often fearful both because we’ve felt fear when doing it and we’ve learned via direct or indirect lessons that it’s something of which we should be afraid.
The Smithsonian says, “We are social creatures, able to learn from one another. So, when you look over to your friend at the haunted house and she’s quickly gone from screaming to laughing, socially you’re able to pick up on her emotional state, which can positively influence your own.” The same is true for feelings of confidence. When you stand up and present in a confident and secure way, the audience picks up on that and mirrors your feelings.
And there are many benefits of instilling relaxation and confidence in your audience by displaying confidence of your own. It helps them remain open to your ideas and creates a more pleasant overall presentation experience. It sets the tone for greater trust between them and you, the speaker. Finally, when you present with confidence, it reminds all of us that public speaking doesn’t have to be scary. It breaks the cycle of learned fear.
3. Your confidence becomes its own method of persuasion.
When you are confident, your message gets an extra boost of persuasion. But don’t take my word for it. This comes directly from the father of rhetoric, Aristotle. Aristotle taught about three proofs that every message should have: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is the fact-based content of the message. The stats and studies that you cite to prove your points. Pathos is the emotional state of mind you want to put your audience in. For example, any political message that tries to make the audience feel afraid is relying on pathos to help make the message more persuasive. Barry Glassner, a sociologist at Lewis & Clark College and the author of The Culture of Fear says that he watched the use of pathos during the recent Trump presidency. He said, “his formula is very clean and uncomplicated: Be very, very afraid. And I am the cure.”
But there is another type of proof. Aristotle calls it “ethos.” It can be loosely translated, “the proof of the person.” It deals with how credible the audience thinks the speaker is or what they think of his/her character. That means two very different speakers can present the same message with similar proofs of logos and pathos. But if one presents the message with more confidence, that boost in ethos creates a third form of persuasion that makes the message all the more powerful.
Fear vs. Confidence
Here’s the deal. Portraying confidence when you present doesn’t mean you don’t ever feel fear. It just means you have done what is necessary (skills training, practice, relaxation techniques, etc.) to trade lack of control for control. And as Javanbakht and Linda Saab of The Smithsonian remind us, “that perception of control is vital to how we experience and respond to fear. When we overcome the initial ‘fight or flight’ rush, we are often left feeling satisfied, reassured of our safety and more confident in our ability to confront the things that initially scared us.”
That means we can choose the many benefits of confidence over letting fear control us. Confidence keeps your brain working properly, it relaxes your audience, and it becomes its own method of persuasion. These three aren’t the only reasons to work to become a confident speaker. But we hope they are three more reasons to fight your fear of public speaking. Three more reasons to chase down and capture that feeling of confidence every single time you stand up to present.
If you’re having trouble finding your own confidence as a speaker, get in touch with one of our presentation coaches now. We’re ready to help.
