¶ … Confidence Memo of Transmittal

Confidence is a somewhat abstract concept that can be studied from an array of different perspectives and is relevant to nearly any course of study or profession. It is not only important to work to build confidence in yourself, but it is equally important to understand how you and others build confidence in other people or systems. For example, you may intuitively feel confident in someone else's decision making ability based on personal heuristics that may not accurately reflect the situation and the confidence bestowed is not really deserved. Thus developing a basic understanding of confidence can be useful on many levels.

This analysis use a multi-disciplinary method of investigation to attempt to build a comprehensive understanding of confidence that based on a wide range of perspectives. The analysis uses research that focuses on confidence in a range of different circumstances such as giving speeches, improvising jazz vocals, determining investor behavior, and even the fate of entire countries. It was found that to personally develop confidence in yourself that preparation and a level of knowledge built about a particular interest can help build confidence. Furthermore, it was also found that individuals often base their confidence on heuristics which can be influenced by levels of knowledge, professionalism, and even culture.

Analysis

There are many strategies that are proposed in the literature to develop confidence based on the circumstances of the application. For example, in the business world it is often extremely important to be able to deliver effective presentations with a level of confidence. However, public speaking does not come easy to everyone and it can be a daunting experience for some. Many people are fearful of making presentations yet the ability to think on one's feet and to deliver presentations is a skill that employers desire in their employees (Blaszcynski & Green, 2010). Furthermore,...

Impromptu speeches are common in business and are ?delivered on the spur of the moment with minimal preparation (Blaszcynski & Green, 2010).
Some researchers have outlined a four-step process that promotes becoming an authentic speaker those steps include four intents: to be open, to connect, to be passionate, and to listen (Blaszcynski & Green, 2010). Yet many people have natural tendencies that are not quite consistent with these steps. For example, it is often common for an individual to use fillers as they talk such as "uh," "er," "um," "like," and "you know" which are all phrases that can indicate to an audience that the speaker is not only not confident in their abilities, but these fillers can also be considered distracting and/or annoying to the audience. One strategy to practice speaking without using fillers can be to record your own speech habits and systematically practice speaking based on your speaking habits. Then, if you can overcome your own habits of using fillers, you can quickly build confidence in your presentations (Blaszcynski & Green, 2010).

Another situation that might be scary for some individuals would be to sing in front of others; especially trying to sing in an improvisational style in front of others. It is reasonable to believe that to accomplish such a task with any level of success that confidence would be of paramount importance. One study attempted to determine if an intensive vocal jazz workshop could significantly enhance both the improvisation skills of choral music education majors and the confidence to teach it (Ward-Steniman, 2014). A set of students was first asked to trying to improvise a jazz song to set a baseline. Then the population of students then attended an eight day workshop that was taught that…