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How to reinvent ‘brand you’

Dubai - Self-confidence is the key to owning yourself

While self-confidence is an innate quality many people are born with, there are others who master it over time. It’s not an uphill task to build confidence as with just a few lifestyle changes one can acquire, boost and reinvent the brand “YOU”. But practise is the key.

Here are a few tips to enhance self-confidence:

1) Looking confident versus being confident: There is a difference between looking confident and being confident. But looking is a good start. When we look confident, we automatically produce a reward chemical called dopamine which makes us feel more confident in our natural personality when we are socialising or in a business environment. So, visual image will always play an important role in feeling confident.

2) Emulate confidence: Whenever you look at a room full of people looking confident, look what they are doing. Emulate their decorum and pay attention. Most importantly, force a connection of proximity towards the most confident ones in the gathering. When you are next to a confident person, simply mirror the body language. Psychologically, your mind tricks you to emulate the same and automatically you will feel and be more confident instantly.

3) Smile, eye contact and pace: Facial expressions play a key role in confidence. The moment you look at someone for the first time, your first word should be “NOTHING”. Simply make eye contact and offer a sincere smile, which would be visible through your eyes. You build the first relationship which produces a trust hormone called oxytocin, simply with your facial expressions followed by a warm greeting. A good example would be a jovial “Hello” for a casual environment and “good morning/or good afternoon/good evening” for a formal environment.

4) Slow down: The biggest giveaway, if you’re feeling less confident, is hyperactive body language and fast communication. Slow down your pace if you think you tend to talk fast. The slower you talk, the more credible you are perceived. Pause more, look at the person and engage deeply. Avoid fillers in between sentences, like Ummm, hmmm. Filler sounds create distraction. Instead, learn the power of the pause. When you pause, it shows you are thinking and you engage the other person more in your conversation. These simple tricks work like magic with people who tend to talk fast.

5) Social anxiety: A lot of us feel anxious when we are in a gathering where we don’t know many people, or even when we are about to meet a person of influence. That fight or flight response of severe nervousness is natural but unnecessary. That’s why being social, in general, helps in getting rid of inhibitions. Remember, social anxiety only increases with having less unfamiliar human contact. The more you expose yourself and be open to meeting and greeting new people from different strata of society, the quicker you will be able to get rid of social anxiety.

Camouflage your nervousness by simply imitating and projecting confidence.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com