If you still need convincing that confidence is super important, here is a little story.

Imagine you need to buy a new wurtscriggle. A quick search reveals two companies that sell this product. You check out each of their websites in turn. The first homepage reads:

The second homepage reads:

The first company sounds unenthused; it doesn’t sound like they think they’re unique or worthwhile, making you question whether they are unique or worthwhile. I don’t know this company at all, but they know themselves, and even they don’t seem to think they’re all that – why on earth should I trust them with my cash?

And alright, I jazzed up the second example with some clichéd corporate-speak (not to mention naff formatting – apologies), not to be imitated in your next job interview. But these people actually think they have a great product. They’re telling me my life will be better if I purchase the wurtscriggle from them. They even present evidence of their greatness without me having to search for it. Their self-belief compels my belief in them.

Isn’t it obvious which company you would buy from?

The same applies to people. If you don’t present self-belief, you don’t give others a reason to believe in you.

So, if you like, confidence is just good marketing.

And now for …

BONUS MULTIMEDIA GIVEAWAY

I started these posts in Powerpoint, thinking it would force me to condense my thoughts into slide-friendly slogans and make the structuring process easier. Also, it allowed me to make that logo above. Then it just turned into a regular slide deck.

So, my gift to you is … this deck. Download it to remind yourself to #BackYourself even when you’re offline. Or nab some of the slides if you need something catchy for a presentation.

the-confidence-manifesto-inmywritemind

If you do use it for anything, please just let me know – I would love to hear how!

Thanks for reading 😁