A speaking coach argues confidence accounts for roughly 80% of a speaker's impact, not 50%. She explains how consistent practice builds self-trust, which lets you lean into the moment and deliver with greater force.
When I first started coaching, I was convinced that, and I thought this was really radical, that 50% of speaking was a mental game, like psyching yourself up, feeling really confident in the moment, believing that your voice and your message really matters. It's a 50% confidence, 50% the skill of speaking. But after years of coaching and seeing speaker after speaker who had zero reason to doubt themselves, doubt themselves, I realized it's more like 80%. And 80% of your ability to have an impact really is dependent on your confidence. Oof, well, where does confidence come from? And what do we do with all of that self-doubt that we often bring with us into those moments? Everyone experiences it to some extent at some point. Well, we work through it little by little with the guidance of a coach and through the consistency of your actions. And when you can be confident and lean into the self-trust that you've built, well, then you can really master the moment.
Speaking My Story: The Talk That Changed Everything (Sally Z's Epilogue) | Speaking Story
The Walk-'n'-Talk and the Stumble-Through: Two Rehearsal Methods That Actually Work | Ch. 39
