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How To Overcome Social Awkwardness and Boost Confidence Fast

Leadership, Management, Mindset, Sales, Self Care / Drew

Social awkwardness is something that affects many people. It can be challenging to navigate social situations and maintain comfortable conversations. If you’re one of the many people who struggle with social awkwardness, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll explore some practical tips that can help you overcome social awkwardness and build your social confidence. Understanding Social Awkwardness Social awkwardness is a term used to describe feelings of discomfort or embarrassment in social situations. It is characterized by a lack of social skills and confidence, leading to difficulty in initiating or maintaining conversations. Socially awkward people often feel self-conscious and anxious, which can further exacerbate their discomfort in social situations. The Importance of Overcoming Social Awkwardness Overcoming social awkwardness is essential for several reasons. Firstly, social skills are critical for success in both personal and professional relationships. Having the confidence to communicate effectively and build relationships is crucial for achieving your goals and living a fulfilling life. Additionally, social awkwardness can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, which can negatively impact your mental health. By overcoming social awkwardness, you can build a more extensive social network and enjoy the benefits of social connection and support. Practical Tips for Overcoming Social Awkwardness Active listening is a crucial skill for building relationships and engaging in meaningful conversations. To practice active listening, focus on the person speaking and show interest in what they are saying. Avoid interrupting or making assumptions and ask open-ended questions to keep the conversation flowing. Your body language can communicate more than your words. Being aware of your body language can help you appear more confident and engaged in conversations. Avoid crossing your arms or slouching, make eye contact, and use appropriate facial expressions to show interest and engagement. Preparation is key to building confidence in social situations. If you’re attending an event, take the time to research the topic or the people you’ll be meeting. This can help you feel more confident and prepared to engage in conversation. The more you practice social skills, the easier they become. Make an effort to attend social events regularly and engage in conversations with new people. Over time, you’ll develop confidence and comfort in social situations. If social awkwardness is causing significant distress or impacting your quality of life, consider seeking professional help. A therapist or coach can provide guidance and support in developing social skills and overcoming social anxiety. Conclusion Overcoming social awkwardness is possible with the right mindset and tools. By practicing active listening, being mindful of your body language, preparing for social events, and seeking professional help if necessary, you can build your social skills and confidence. Remember, social skills are essential for building meaningful relationships and achieving success in all aspects of life. But they’re something we all learn in different ways and at different times. If you’d like me to be the coach in your corner – send me a quick note and I’ll be happy to support you.

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Finding Confidence To Embrace Life’s Big Decisions & Overcome Fear of…

Leadership, Management, Mindset, Sales / Drew

Confidence comes from a latin word affīdāre which means “to trust oneself”; therefore, finding confidence is just having more trust in one’s self and fear of failure. Confidence is a state of being clear headed either that a hypothesis is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. I talk to a lot of sales professionals and entrepreneurs, people starting their own businesses, and they want to learn: “How can I develop more confidence or even just get myself a bit more confident so that I can be more successful in what I do?” In order to make this happen, we have to realize where confidence comes from and what finding confidence means. Finding confidence is basically your ability to take action and feel good about yourself and the results of the action. Feeling like whatever it is you’re about to jump into, you can do a good job and you can come out of it looking and feeling good. Now, this doesn’t happen by accident. When you look at the way confidence shows up in our lives, it appears as a result of doing things over and over again and developing a proficiency from it. Confidence, in and of itself, is not something that you’re born with or not born with. It’s something that’s developed over time through practice and repetition. When you first learned to walk, at 12 or 13-months old or whatever it may be for you; you weren’t very confident at walking. In fact, you couldn’t walk at all. But you were determined to try, and determined to succeed. You stood on the side of the sofa and you pushed yourself off and you would fall. You would try it again and you would maybe balance for a bit and then fall. But you would do it over and over again. Your level of confidence in the beginning was tiny. In fact, there probably was no confidence. But you were so determined to do it, that you kept going regardless of the outcome. Eventually you took a step, you followed that with another step, and soon enough you were walking and now you’re an adult and you can walk from one room to another, you can walk for miles as an exercise or whatever, and not even think about the act of walking. It’s just something that comes naturally to you now. If someone were to ask you your level of confidence on a scale of 0 to 10, how confident you are that you could walk across the room, you’d probably say 11. It isn’t even something that you ever think to question…You just do it. The same thing goes for finding confidence in all areas of life – including your professional life. Let’s say your success right now requires your ability to sell. Doesn’t matter what it is. To sell a product, to sell an idea, to sell a service, sell a training program. I don’t know what it is for you. You might not be confident in your ability to communicate value in a way that exceeds the expense and closes a deal. So the important question becomes, how are you going to find that confidence? You weren’t born with it. Thinking about yourself going into a situation where you might have to sell somebody, makes you nervous or self-conscious. How do you get to a point where you’re confident in doing it no matter what you are selling? First, it’s natural to feel fear whenever you are stepping out of your comfort zone…it’s a biological response we have maintained from our “caveman brains”. Luckily there are many other, more evolved portions of our brain we can counter it with. So, the next time you’re feeling fearful, just try to put it into perspective. Recognize that fear is only a feeling, a chemical response to a thought. Fear can feel very, very real. But it’s only an emotion that survives and thrives when we feed it with our attention. The first step in mastering your fear of taking massive action is to remember to tell yourself that fear isn’t real – that it’s only a feeling that can’t hurt actually you. Remember, everyone experiences fear Everyone experiences fear before they try something new. Think Tony Robbins hasn’t experienced fear of failure? Sure he has, and I’m sure he would tell you that himself. Everyone has experienced fear of failure, the fear of looking like a fool, the fear of losing friends, the fear of being judged, a fear of being called an imposter, the fear of ending up worse than when you started, whatever it may be. In fact, statistics show that a whopping 85% of the population has some form of self-doubt. When a moment of panic comes over you, image your role model and remember that they too have experienced fear. But they moved through it anyway. Sometimes you’ll just have to do it afraid. Do it anyway. Take the first small step We’ve all heard Newton’s 1st Law of Motion: A body at rest tends to stay at rest, while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Notice that feeling of fear, and then take that first small step in spite of it. Fear is a natural and required part of the process. Accept your ability to work through fear and do it anyway. You’ll learn from it and you’ll make mistakes and you’ll fall on your face, just like you fell when you were first learning how to walk. But you do this once and you’ll get a little bit of feedback, and you’ll get a little bit of insight. Maybe you can even find a manager or mentor to review your work and see a couple of things that you could improve on in the future. This is incredibly valuable feedback. Go to the next project, make the corrections, make a little bit of an improvement, and you will increase your confidence. Maybe you don’t close the sale, but you go to

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Why An Introvert Makes A Better Salesperson

Management, Sales, strategy / Drew

Let me start by defining the parties of today’s story. An Introvert is a person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings more so than with external things. An extrovert is a person predominantly concerned with external things or objective considerations. So, introverts aren’t necessarily shy, but, they are quieter than extroverts. Introverts will gladly open their mouths when talking about something they are passionate about, but tend to stay quieter when the topic is small talk. Why? Because small talk just isn’t important to them. Now, let’s say you have 2 salespeople – an extrovert and an introvert. The extrovert is likely to talk – and talk – and talk – which is exactly what you expect from a sales person. And in the midst of all this talking, the extrovert will make sales. However, the introvert will do something the extrovert commonly fails to do – the introvert will ask questions and LISTEN to the answers. I don’t mean they wait for the prospect to stop talking so they can begin extolling all the many benefits of the product. I mean they LISTEN. They want to know what’s keeping the prospect awake at night in relation to the problem the product solves. They want to know the prospect’s fears, desires, dreams, etc. They want to know what’s worked for the prospect, what’s failed for the prospect, and what that prospect really, truly wants so they can help this prospect get it. It’s this same sales person who will continue to use questions as they present their product or service, questions that direct the prospect to the desired conclusion – that this product is what they want and need. Shift Happens When You Ask Better Questions Everything else being equal, 9 times out of 10 the introvert salesperson will outsell the extrovert. All because they stepped back, asked questions, and listened closely to the answers, instead of just trying to sell their product. Introverted marketers have the same advantage as introverted sales people. They dig to discover what it is their prospects truly want. They ask questions, be it in person, over Skype, in forums, via email, etc. And they pay close attention to the answers. These same marketers spend time researching what successful marketers are doing. They don’t assume they already have the answers. Instead, they look to those who’ve succeeded and they ask how it was done and how it can be duplicated. That being said, extroverts can master the skills of asking questions and listening to the answers as well as any introvert, if they try. It doesn’t come as naturally for them, but it will come with practice and patience. And if you look at the most successful people in the world, what you will find is they stand on the shoulders of those who came before. They asked questions, got the answers and used this knowledge to carve their place in the world. Try it. Next time someone asks you for advice, ask them questions first. Next time someone asks about your product, ask them about their needs first. Next time someone is on a forum looking for help, ask them for more information. And then pay close attention to what they say before you respond. This falls under my favorite category to talk about, something I call: “un-common sense”. But, asking the right questions and listening to the answers can be one of the most rewarding and highest paying skills in the world.

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