Self Confidence Is The Most Essential Public Relations Skill
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If you want to be hailed as knowledgeable and authoritative in your public communications, then you have to exude self confidence. In fact, most people in the PR industry would argue that self-confidence, or a lack thereof, could make or break your career.
In your PR communications, you have to be able to convey your expertise in your industry and niche, instill confidence and respect in your brand, and build trust with your audience. To do all this, self-confidence is key.
Below, we’ve outlined why self-confidence matters and how you can become more confident in your public relations strategies.
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Why Self-Confidence Is The Most Essential Public Relations Skill
A lot of people may mistakenly believe that confidence is a soft skill that they’ll only need later on in their careers. This is not the case.
Irrespective of your title, experience, or your position, your confidence levels will have a direct impact on every facet of your career. For your clients or customers to trust you, they have to view you as a leader in your industry.
You have to use your voice and skillset in an authoritative and assertive way so you can deliver on the expectations of your clients and co-workers.
6 Ways To Be More Confident In Your Public Relations
Dress The Part
One of the best ways to feel and look more professional is to dress the part. If dressed appropriately, your appearance can play a big part in people’s first impression of you.
When you look and feel ready, you will also appear more comfortable in your skin. This will allow you to convey your strategies and ideas in a confident manner.
Take Note Of Your Strengths
Everyone has things they excel at and things they still need to work on. It’s important to take note of your strengths and weaknesses so you can accentuate the things you are great at when needed.
For example, if you know you don’t convey things well on paper but you are good at verbally explaining your ideas, then you should do just that.
Of course, you should still work on those areas that you think you could approve in. However, by relying on the traits or skills that you already excel at, you will automatically feel more confident.
Find A Mentor
When getting started in your PR communications, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of new things you have to learn. By finding a mentor, whether it’s a colleague, someone that’s been working in your industry for a long time, a PR agency, or a business coach, you will find your feet much sooner.
This will enable you to ask questions and come to grips with PR best practices. The more you can learn, the more confident you will be.
Invest In Your Own Professional Development
By investing time and energy into educating yourself in terms of listening, leadership, and marketing skills, you will feel more confident.
Professional development is important for furthering your career and expanding your skillset. It will naturally help you feel more confident in your knowledge and skills.
If you want to enroll in an online course that you feel will help you to better do your job, then now is the time to do it.
Communicate Clearly
It can be tempting to become a wallflower, scout out the scene, and listen to others before taking your own stance. Although there is nothing wrong with this approach, you shouldn’t forget to practice how to communicate clearly when you finally feel comfortable enough to do so.
When speaking about a project, incident, or new idea, you should do it in a way that instills confidence and conveys credibility. This means you should focus on your tone of voice, word choices, the speed of your speech, and how you organize everything you want to say. The key lies in being assertive yet transparent.
Be Okay With Having Respect Over Being Liked
People often prefer to be liked rather than respected. Although it’s not always the best feeling if you are not liked, being respected is much more important if you want to be taken seriously.
Being confident in who you are, what you want, and what you need may require you to be firm at times. There is a fine line between being respected and being liked. The goal is to balance the two so you don’t alienate people, but rather get them to trust you and look to you in time of need.
In Summary
Self-confidence is one of the most important skills in PR because it allows you to accurately convey your expertise and skillset to clients, co-workers, and other people in the industry.
Luckily, it’s a soft skill that you can work on and perfect as you grow in your career. By becoming more confident, it will be easier for you to conduct your day-to-day tasks in a more impactful and efficient way, and allow you to thoroughly prepare your company for a crisis should you ever have to.
Founder and President at The Hoyt Organization
With over 25 years of experience, Leeza’s campaigns have garnered over 150 awards from top public relations organizations nationwide. Additionally, THO serves as the Los Angeles area partner of the Public Relations Global Network, granting clients access to over 50 global markets. The agency was also named to one of the top 200 firms in the country by Forbes magazine in 2021, and she has been named by Globest.com as a Woman of Influence and a Woman to Watch, among other designations.
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