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How to be confident at work

I work in a professional industry and it requires a lot of clarity and understanding. I am a trainee so it's difficult for me to speak confidently about what I am doing.

Because of this, whether I am speaking to a manager or a client, it makes them feel unconfident about what I am doing. I'm not a fluent speaker and I have to think things through before I say them. I find it difficult to speak to clients over the phone because I have to write down exactly what I want to say- exact dates and numbers. I am coping with that however if the client asks for some other information or something that I have not thought about then I cannot answer, I have to say 'I am sorry but I haven't looked at that bit yet' or 'Do you have an email address so I can list the things I require from you because i'm not too sure at the moment?'.

Yet some people can be so confident. There is another trainee who has less experience with me and he is always phoning clients and is fine with it.

Does anyone know how you can sound confident, even when you're not? When I pick up the phone and dial the number, I can hear it ringing and my hands are sweating rivers and I can hear my heart beating. I am so worried about making a bad impression or messing up.

I know when being confident you have to be a bit assertive, yet I also cannot do this because I can't offend people or I worry if I was too hard on them.

Any one know how I can fix this?

People say 'Go out and be social' but I hate going out and I always end up sitting quietly because I can't think of anything to say.

Reply 1

alow

Practice. Practice. Practice.

If you don't like going out then maybe play some video games where you have to talk to people?

Reply 2

hothedgehog

Just remember that although you're ringing a client the person on the other end of the phone is a person just like you. You're not an encyclopaedia of everything at your job so just say things 'I'm not quite sure on that at the moment, is it ok if I check and give you a ring back later?'. That's absolutely fine. Writing notes before ringing is fine, writing notes while you're calling is fine so just do anything that will help you remember. You're going to get better with practice. If you can, try and listen to other people when they are making calls to clients and you'll start to get used to the way you should be talking to them.

Also, you never sound like you on the phone so the other person won't be able to pick up your nervousness - keep calm and be awesome!