Thread: Need to boost my confidence but how

Always remember, "Confidence is not genetic, nor is it hereditary"

I have heard from numerous friends (including a few who pitched VC's) that smoking some ganja has helped them relax enough to do what they to do. This is more of a take the edge off but just a quick thought. Outside of that since it is a bit out of the box, I personally do a few things...

1.) Motivate yourself with what you desire, I find I usually draw towards material objects here but it really pumps me up
2.) Look at your idea or whatever your doing and point out to yourself again why this is an awesome idea and what the pro's of it are; I find two things happen here, either you realize that your idea isn't as great as you thought or re-solidify your confidence in what your pitching
3.) Tell yourself you are confident and awesome, seriously it works; think positive and tell yourself you will be fine

Edit: I am in no way promoting illegal drug use

^ lol that's a tempting suggestion, but all I can think about when I used to get baked is food and sleep.

"used to" uhhhh huh!!...... try it, you never know.....i know i fumble more and it would not help me...

DO NOT GET ON ANY PILLS!!!!



find a "toast masters" or Dale Carnige (sp) class ive been good at talking infrount of people but the DC class REALLY helps!!

Originally Posted by Dr. Handsome

I was gonna suggest a public speaking class to rid you of your anxiety, but this ^^^ is exactly what you would have learned. I agree with everything he just said.

x2. I did a skype interview for someone doing a student entrepreneurship video series and I was confident but i didnt even realize how many times I said "you know" when i didnt know what else to say or was thinking. Now when im in a meeting i make sure i dont say it

Do your research. I used to always find that having something in common made things easier. Ive done a lot of pitches for the car dealership app im working on and it makes things a thousand times easier after youve been talking about corvettes for 20 minutes.

I took public speaking as part of my business major and surprisingly didn't do all that bad. My heart always started pounding when it was my turn to get up in front of the class but I was able to hide some of the nervousness behind the podium and having note cards helped .

But I agree. Knowing all my facts and information down is 90% of the battle.

I used to be very shy then i started taking small steps

*Saying hello to complete strangers in the street
*Working out every day
*Eating right
*And finally the biggest thing.......I believed in what i was selling. now my pitch is so good, i could sell water to Poseidon. Just own that shit, you didn't make it as far as you did in life by second guessing yourself.

I used to be shy... Then I ask this girl out, barely knew her. She said yes. I was still shy, and when we would go out she MADE me talk to random people and introduce myself, even with a simple Hello. Well I am still a LITLE shy but not like I was. It/She has made a better person. So my advice would be to go out and just randomly talk to strangers, compliment them, give them stuff etc. First off it will brighten their day, and second it will help you become less shy and more confident. I have a job (Point of Sale at a Department Store) were I am constantly talking and I swear if it wasn't for her I would be not talking to the customers which in turn I probably wouldn't have this job.

If only her and I were still together Oh Well.

Good Luck. Hope all works out well.

Update:

Not long after this thread was first posted I decided to change the business from one that was originally intended to sell products to one focused on selling a service. Managing inventory and handing customer returns was a nightmare on the business plan.

I have a question. After giving the pitch, how should I close it?.. I know I should ask for their business and have contracts in the car ready to be signed, but the problem is I can't really do that because of my situation.

I'm basically an subscription-based affiliate for the many businesses I plan on "partnering" with. Customers download my membership card app (paid annually) and receive special benefits from the businesses in my network. Without them I have nothing, which is why I'd like to have such a contract.

In order for me to spend the many more 1000's of dollars it will take to actually launch, I need to know if they like the idea and are committed to working with me.

I would want them to sign some kind of "Commitment contract" stating that if they later change their mind after I already made a significant investment, they would pay a fine. I don't know if this is a common business practice or not.

I took the advice of some of the previous posters. I filmed myself giving the pitch and I bought myself some nice new clothes. Got some colognes at home that would go along well. I'm thinkin Ralph Lauren polo black?

thanks.

When I did some time as a Stockbroker, the company I worked for had a sign-on fee before any contracts were signed/client funds were transferred to our accounts. The aim of that is to get them committed... If they've already handed over cash then they're 10 times more likely to bring funds on board or go ahead with the deal even if they haven't signed anything yet.

The close for us was simple, when we had them hot enough and ready to go, we'd just hit them with ''I'm going to get you set up right now - Visa or Mastercard?''

It's rough and unexpected in a sense but the amount of times people would hand over their details before they were even finished thinking was amazing. Of course, the close is the hardest part and it's the preparation and the rest of the conversation that gets you there.

The best advice I can give is be hungry for it. You need to want it bad enough, the burning desire is what will have you controlling the conversation and handling the potential clients objections. Covering objections is another thing you should practice. Review your pitch, but more importantly write down a list of questions the client could ask, or any issues they could raise, and practice answering them. You'll come across as confident and more convincing if you can snap-call their objections without the ''umms'' and ''ahhs''.

All the best