It’s often said that, in the absence of proper information, people come to their own conclusions.
Have you ever made an assumption about a situation that simply wasn’t true?
For example, when someone doesn’t call or text back immediately, do you assume they are being dismissive, or do you think they may not be in a position to get back to you immediately?
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak at TEDxEmory. The overall theme was: What makes your heart beat? And my topic was Owning Your Confidence: How to Overcome Nervousness and Exude Confidence in High-Stakes Situations. I discussed several practical techniques to help you excel in even the most stressful of situations. They are practices I’ve developed over many years of being on television and speaking professionally around the world.
While neuroscience describes what happens when we get stressed and nervous as fight,
Awkward encounters come in many forms, but the two that can cause the most discomfort are those when you are greeted by someone who treats you like an old friend when you have no idea who they are or how they know you and, conversely, when you clearly remember that you have been introduced to someone several times, and they look at you blankly when you greet them.
I have been in front of audiences both live and virtually for all of my professional life, but even I have experienced moments of terrifying self-doubt, moments when I have broken out into a cold, heart palpitating sweat in which my usual sense of breezy self-confidence just seems to drain away. In fact, I had exactly that kind of moment just before I was scheduled to introduce media mogul, philanthropist and restaurateur Ted Turner,
