Ways to Increase Confidence | 7 TED Talks by Women

Do you suffer from a lack of confidence or low self-esteem? Most people would agree that we would like to increase confidence. Read on to find 7 TED Talks given by women for some simple ways to help you to increase confidence and improve your sense of self confidence.

• What could you accomplish if you were ten times more confident?
• What if you could believe that maybe there is nothing wrong with you?
• What would you dare to dream if your self-worth wasn’t at stake?

If you would like to find out how to become a more confident person, pick a TED Talk below and be encouraged that increasing your confidence is ABSOLUTELY possible.

Six Behaviors to Increase Your Confidence | Emily Jaenson

10 min 12 sec

What could you do if you were ten times more confident?

Change comes not from trying to change attitudes alone, but by changing the behaviors associated with them.

Emily Jaenson shares six behaviors to help you increase your confidence levels and move closer to achieving your goals. She reminds us that positive people celebrate the success of other people instead of feeling threatened by it.

What if There’s Nothing Wrong With You | Susan Henkels

13 min 27 sec

Psychotherapist and author of What if There is Nothing Wrong with You?, Susan Henkels, poses the question, “What if there is nothing wrong with you?” And if you could get out of your comfort zone and believe this, “Could you have more courage to do something that you want?”

In this talk, she challenges us to remove judgment and negative thoughts and think, “it is what it is,” rather than using negative self-talk about things we do or things about ourselves that we view as “wrong.” Susan helps us learn how to stop fighting ourselves and instead use some positive self-talk to help go do something we really want to do.

Meet Yourself: A User’s Guide to Building Self-Esteem | Niko Everett

9 min 31 sec

In this TED Talk, Niko Everett talks about how self-esteem is built on our own thoughts about ourselves. Sadly, a lot of people can’t think of one or two positive things about our own abilities.  Niko talks about a strategy that involves building confidence by turning up the volume on our positive thoughts about ourselves and pressing delete on our negative thinking.

What Fear Can Teach Us | Karen Thompson Walker

11 min 31 sec

Author Karen Thompson Walker likens our fears to storytelling in this TED Talk. She poses this challenging question: What if instead of thinking of fear as something to conquer, overcome or fight, we look at it as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling?

She uses the real-life example of the shipwreck that inspired the book Moby Dick to illustrate how our fears are stories and we are the authors and readers.

You Don’t Have to be Loud to be Confident: The Power of Introverts | Susan Cain

19 min 5 sec

What do Elenor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks and Ghandi all have in common? They are all self-described introverts who contributed great things through different situations. Studies show that 1/3-1/2 of people are introverts, yet our school and workplace cultures have become significantly biased towards extroverts.

Susan Cain talks about how creativity, revelations and epiphanies often come from times of solitude. Solitude also often leads to a huge boost in creativity. She puts out 3 calls to action including stopping the madness with constant group work at work and at school and how it should be reserved for specific tasks.

Susan encourages both extroverts and introverts to embrace their different roles and to be the best version of themselves. She encourages introverts to embrace that personality trait to share their unique gifts with the world.

How to Discover Your Authentic Self — at Any Age | Bevy Smith

15 min 10 sec

Bevy Smith is a self-proclaimed “late bloomer” who, professes that it gets “greater later.”

Through her tell-it-like-it-is style, she shares her personal experiences and reminds us that we shouldn’t settle. When reflecting on her social life, she says that extending grace is better than Botox. She shares how ditching a negative attitude and embracing a growth mindset was an important factor in helping her to embrace a positive self-image and live a more successful life. Bevy gives good advice and three questions to ask yourself so that you can show up as the most “you” version of yourself.