I got appointed to give a few public speeches a couple of years ago. The audience wasn’t big by any means but still is something that terrifies most people.
Then, I came across a video from Guy Kawasaki where he said something like “look..if you think you are good at public speaking, you are probably wrong”. That made me think about how we perceive these amazing speakers and the truth behind them: they practiced so many times that they know exactly what is next…they repeated their presentation until they are literally bored, and that’s what we perceive as confidence.
So I practiced, and practiced, and practiced again. So many times that I can foresee exactly what the audience will think and ask, I can literally read their minds.
How many times? A minimum of 30 times. I was bored. But it worked.
My presentations went really well, not only because the message was delivered, but because I was perceived as confident. And the lesson was learnt: if you want to be perceived as confident, practice until you are bored.