Well, that’s the cold hard truth.
A lot of my clients complained about it and were frustrated by it.
You may have suffered from the same experience. You are more capable and competent, but you were too nervous and not able to stand in front of a group to present well, or not able to speak with clarity and concision in meetings, your capability and competence were undermined.
To see is to believe. If your boss and colleagues can’t see you speaking up and presenting confidently, they don’t believe that you are capable.
I was in your shoes. In my first job as a professional more than a decade ago, my boss said to me in the annual performance review, “I thought you were very capable when I hired you, but how come in the past year I seldom saw you speak up?” I had been waiting for my turn to speak and my turn never came in the entire year! Not long after I worked on myself, I started to have many friends who often came to me to ask for advice on their professional and personal lives. Don’t even mention how much I enjoy speaking in front of groups.
It doesn’t matter whether you are introverted or extroverted. You can speak and present with confidence and conviction.
Face the reality. Know where you are and what you need to improve on. If you can do this, you’ve made your first move towards advancement.
Change your perspective and you’ll change the way they see you. Instead of waiting for your turn to speak, take the opportunity as your way of contribution. It is never about when you speak, but about what you can contribute.
Learn to speak and present with confidence and conviction. Every skill can be learned. If you think you’ll never be able to speak with confidence, you are limiting yourself with excuses. Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.” No one was born excellent.
To get you started, I’ve written an ebook to help you speak with confidence and conviction. Download it HERE for FREE.
