10 Ways To Develop Confidence In New Situations

By:Maria Marsala

Do you enjoy one-on-one networking, however, the thought of walking into room full of people you don't know horrifies you? You're not alone. Yes, even a social butterfly, President of the Social Committee in High School and avid networker knows how you feel. Here are some of my tricks. And they have all worked!

A great way to network at a conference is to volunteer at the registration desk. Why? You get to say hello to everyone who registers in your line and everyone who registers gets to see you behind the registration table. At the event, you'll feel more comfortable talking with people because you've "met" them already. And if those aren't enough benefits, people will "recognize you" from the registration desk, and be more likely to come talk with you.

Once you join a new group, ask the Chairperson what volunteer opportunities are available. Take on a small or large task, based on what you like to do and/or do something that may quietly help you market your business.

If you teach a class or speak, go into the room early. Get a feel for it, change it around if need be, and greet everyone who walks in with a big "hello my name is ...". Bring name tags or recycle the tops of old Manila folders, have each person put their name on it, and put it on the table in front of them.

When you are planning to attend a meeting for the first time, call up whomever you can from the organization. Ask them if you can meet them at the meeting. Then you'll "know" someone that you can look for when you arrive.

Carry a name tag in your glove compartment. Make one for personal use, another for business use. Then people will feel more comfortable walking up to you in meetings.

Put your notes on the back of duplicates of pictures (photography) you've taken. Then they won't stick out so much from the podium (like white paper or index cards do.)

Practice some opening lines and your handshake before you attend the event. Practice using a mirror and ask your family to let you practice on them, too.

Develop two a 30-second commercials (also called elevator speeches, USP - unique selling propositions). One is for personal use, and the other would be for business use. Jay Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing fame, suggests creating a 7 word commercial, too.

Remember that everyone in that room is a human being, too. Everyone has their own fears to deal with... and they might even be the same as yours.

Find other ways to build your confidence, too. Email me the ones that work for you.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article keywords: networking, USP, Ideal client, confidence

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

© 2006 Maria Marsala. Elevating Your Business helps women who own service businesses accelerate profits and improve productivity - quicker! Check out our You-Can’t-Lose 50% guarantee. Join "No BS Business Advice Ezine" to receive your audio and 2 reports now. http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com

Top Creativity Articles
1). 10 Steps To Clear Thinking By : Steve Gillman Does your mind sometimes feel like a television station you can't quite tune in? You know there's an interesting program on - or several, but everything is mixed with static. What if you could "tune in" at will, have clear thinking whenever you want it? Try some of the following. Ten Clear Thinking Techniques And Tips 1. Take a walk. Science will eventually prove this to be a great way to improve the quality of your thinking, but don't wait for the proof.
2). 7 Tips to Make You More Creative By : Roger Carr Many great things have started as an simple, creative idea. Consider donating some of your best ideas to help others. The more creative you are, the more ideas you will be able to create. You can be creative even if you don't think you are. I have known many people that were scared to use a computer for the first few times. However, after diving into it they became more comfortable.
3). Creativity and Rebellion: Why They Go Hand-in-Hand By : Tom Filsinger Studies on creative people have consistently demonstrated that creativity is associated with openness to new ideas, risk-taking, and being inner-directed. Do these traits put creative people at odds with the culture and people around them? The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. Say for example that Jeremy is a creative child that performs below average in school.
4). Ways to crank up your Creativity By : Donald Ogilve Creativity is a quality that we all have buried inside of us, one way or the other. It involves the invention of something new or the re-invention of something already existing to make it useful of interesting. Some people’s creative abilities are closer to the surface and one can easily see the manifestations of them. People say that their creativity is “inborn”.
5). Powerful Tools For Lucid Dreaming By : Andrea Strachan Dream Signs - What Are They? “I awoke in the morning as usual. I lay in bed for a moment and reached over to pick up the phone, as I had an important call to make. I started to dial the numbers and glanced away briefly. Looking back at the phone, I noticed something odd had happened. The object in my hand had now changed into the remote control for the television! What was going on?” As you may have guessed, I was in fact dreaming.
6). Creating A Life That’s Right For You: Are You Living By Design or Default? By : Dan Goodwin We all have many different areas and elements that together make up our lives. But are the ones that make up your life right now there by design or default? Read the following two statements and notice which best describes how you are and how your life unfolds - a) I have a clear vision and plan of how I want my life to be. I create and seek out the opportunities I need to bring me closer to this ideal life.
7). Who Wants to Work? By : Lee Down I feel a loss when pragmatism wins over the mystical. There is a greater magic at work when you engage with Source. I believe that strength and optimism combined with hard work will keep marketing principles and other learned strategies working well for success. I have a much different story to tell. I've spent many years in the corporate world and in the service and sales industry.
8). How to pick the Dream Tattoo Design That You Want Today By : Becky McClure A recent survey tells us that 24% of Americans between the ages of 18-50 are tattooed. This is almost 1 in 4. The most popular reason people get tattooed is “To broadcast what they are all about.” Keeping this in mind, many people end up regretting the tattoo that is inked on their body. Most of the time, these people did not take the time to really think about why they choose a particular tattoo and look at other tattoo designs that are available.
9). The Value of Creativity - Part 1 By : Angie D. Dixon Part 1 of 3 ***** Some Introductory Thoughts... I make my living, such as it is, on creativity, spit and a little shoe polish. Well, not so much spit and shoe polish. I’m a writer, a designer, and a serial entrepreneur. I’m also a so-called “expert” on creativity. Which is why I found myself, at three o’clock one morning, thinking about the inherent value of creativity.
10). Creative Focus: You Always Get What You Focus On… So Focus On What You Really Want! By : Dan Goodwin What do you focus on and spend most of your time thinking about? The things you want in your life? Or the things you don't want? Whatever it is you focus on, that's what you'll find will appear in your life. When we focus on negative things, or things we definitely want to avoid in our life, often it's these very things that appear just at the worst possible moment.

New Creativity Articles
1). Ways to crank up your Creativity By : Donald Ogilve Creativity is a quality that we all have buried inside of us, one way or the other. It involves the invention of something new or the re-invention of something already existing to make it useful of interesting. Some people’s creative abilities are closer to the surface and one can easily see the manifestations of them. People say that their creativity is “inborn”.
2). How to pick the Dream Tattoo Design That You Want Today By : Becky McClure A recent survey tells us that 24% of Americans between the ages of 18-50 are tattooed. This is almost 1 in 4. The most popular reason people get tattooed is “To broadcast what they are all about.” Keeping this in mind, many people end up regretting the tattoo that is inked on their body. Most of the time, these people did not take the time to really think about why they choose a particular tattoo and look at other tattoo designs that are available.
3). Creative Loafing By : Steve Gillman Have you tried creative loafing? It is a good excuse to relax, and also a great way to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. How does one creatively loaf? Just relax, open your mind, and use one of the many idea-generating techniques. A Creative Loafing Technique My favorite technique is one that is best for generating new ideas rather than solving specific problems.
4). How to Boost Your IQ -- Guaranteed! By : Ken Korczak What if I were to tell you that just six months from now your IQ could be 25 percent higher than what it is today? And what if I told you that all you needed to do was perform a simple daily exercise that would make it happen? In fact, there is strong evidence that by doing this one easy exercise, you can dramatically increase your IQ -- and even make yourself a genius! So what is this simple, easy and fantastic “genius exercise” that will supercharge your brain? This: Keep a daily journal or diary.
5). Create Your Own Destiny By : Moola Ram Potalia We are constantly imitating others. When we copy other people, we can't reproduce their charisma, talent or success. Externally, we can imitate their life, their way of dressing and drive the same kind of car, but this does not bring us fulfilment. We can take another's life as an example, but we must think hard before we follow them. Look at the.
6). Powerful Tools For Lucid Dreaming By : Andrea Strachan Dream Signs - What Are They? “I awoke in the morning as usual. I lay in bed for a moment and reached over to pick up the phone, as I had an important call to make. I started to dial the numbers and glanced away briefly. Looking back at the phone, I noticed something odd had happened. The object in my hand had now changed into the remote control for the television! What was going on?” As you may have guessed, I was in fact dreaming.
7). The Value of Creativity - Part 1 By : Angie D. Dixon Part 1 of 3 ***** Some Introductory Thoughts... I make my living, such as it is, on creativity, spit and a little shoe polish. Well, not so much spit and shoe polish. I’m a writer, a designer, and a serial entrepreneur. I’m also a so-called “expert” on creativity. Which is why I found myself, at three o’clock one morning, thinking about the inherent value of creativity.
8). The Value of Creativity - Part 2 By : Angie D. Dixon Part 2 of 3 ***** The Intellectual Value of Creativity Creativity is important to our intellectual development in ways we can’t even begin to understand, I’m sure. But there are a couple of specific ways that creativity is valuable intellectually that I’d like to address. First, creativity helps us understand things that we might not otherwise be able to comprehend, by drawing comparisons and looking at similar things in different ways.
9). The Value of Creativity - Part 3 By : Angie D. Dixon Part 3 of 3 ***** The Interpersonal Value of Creativity Think about the person you love most. What is one thing you find most appealing about that person? Most people would say, “their sense of humor,” “they make me laugh,” “they’re really funny.” Even people who don’t think of themselves as funny, are drawn to people they think are funny. People who would describe themselves as having “no sense of humor” still reach out for humor in their lives.
10). The Power of Cumulative Creativity - 5 Compelling Benefits of Creating a Little Each Day. By : Dan Goodwin One of the most common perceptions of non-artists about how creative people work is that seized by inspiration at the most unlikely times, they rush to their notebook, easel or computer and create furiously for hours until they’re burnt out, exhausted and unable to create anymore. Then, after suffering an unpredictable and turbulent period of some form of creative block, suddenly the next day/ week/ month/ year their inspiration grips them once more and they again create manically.