One of the key skills required to achieve your goals and get where you what in life is confidence. Although you might not enjoy making presentations and speeches in front of a crowd, inevitably you will have to one day.

Accept the possible outcomes

When you start thinking that you should get a pay rise, you will need to confront your boss and ask for one. This is going to take a lot of courage. One way that can help you overcome your fear is to accept the possible outcomes. The worst possible event that could happen is that you loss your job and so as long as you are prepared for the chance of this happening, you will be fine.

Need to practice with audience

The best way to build confidence is to get used to being in front of an audience. In front of an audience you need to be able to smile and think on the spot without getting stage fright. Practice helps this a lot, but there is nothing like experience.

Sports and other team games

When you "have the ball" in a team sport, all your team mates and spectators are watching you. Think about this and the fact that you are now "on the stage".

Meeting presentations

When you are in a staff meeting, everyone is will to hear what you say.

Sing

It takes a lot of confidence to sing in front of an audience.

Dance

Dance in front of and audience and go to a dance school.

Do what you enjoy

You will be most confident when you are doing something you enjoy. Pick the topic you are most passionate about and talk about it to an audience.

Find your strong points

Has anyone ever complimented you on doing something well? Write down these comments and use them to find out things that you are good at and will do well when talking about them.

Pretend to be confident

The best step towards being confident is pretending to be confident. Do not let anyone on to the idea that you are not confident. When someone is confident their body language has specific characteristics, they:

• Hold eye contact
• Speak using emphasis and expression
• Do no talk to fast
• Use strategic pauses
• Do not um and ah

Never put yourself down or make fun of yourself

As well as never admitting that you are not confident, you should never put yourself down. You need to learn to talk positively about yourself.

Speech and Presentation Courses

If you have problems with confidence you can always try Speech and Presentation Courses. These courses are designed to help people like you get used to an audience.

Starting with a drunk audience

If all else fails, try making a fool of yourself in front of a very drunk audience. The are less likely to remember your mistakes (or you) and you can be a more worry free.