Be Bolder | Daily Quote #463
This is a lesson I learnt when I was in school, and I'm glad I did...
“Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honours the timid.”
Robert Greene
When I was in secondary school, I figured out the way to be a good public speaker is to be confident - or at least pretend to be. The realisation came from class presentations. Those who were not confident felt awkward in themselves giving the speech, but in turn everyone listening also felt awkward and wanted their presentation to be over.
I decided, when I was 14, that I would just deliver my speech with a bit of gusto, as if no one really cared. Was I confident? No. But knowing that if I were timid people would feel awkward listening to me, I guessed the reverse would be true if I showed a bit of confidence.
I was a bit bold in my delivery. I tried to keep it light, not forcing jokes but throwing out a bit of casual humour (you know? not pre-planned lines as if I were a stand up comedian). Gestures and being a bit expressive helped too. I would not usually act this way in break-times around people other than my close friends, but having that bit of boldness really helped.
Sharing a bit of your personality is positive. It radiates that you are warm and starts to wear away at people’s defences. It helps to put them at ease.
Later when I was in university, my professor said that I had really good public speaking skills - something that when I was 12 I would not have believed about myself. This all came from the realisation in secondary school that you need to be act a bit bold and confident, even if you’re not.
Boldness broadcasts energy. Timidity dampens it. People are attracted to energy. Make sure that you are a provider of energy - at least don’t drain people of theirs.
10 Lessons from One Year of Daily Quotes
Recently I released Daily Quote #365 marking one complete year of Daily Quotes. Ten of you are now subscribed to A Diary of Self-Improvement, some of you joined early on, and others more recently. So, in this post, I will recap my ten favourite quotes along with the lessons and mindsets I have developed in the past year.
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