I would like to share with you a very simple yet very effective tool that I use that raises my confidence level before a big presentation and indeed any time I am about to face an unfamiliar audience such as facilitating a training course or pitching Synergy Coaching Services to a new Corporate client.

I attended a series of seminars recently in the area of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). One of the speakers spoke about a tool that is used in NLP called “Anchoring”. Anchoring is something I have been using for a while now to raise my confidence levels pretty much instantaneously. Anchoring may also be used to trigger any positive emotion you want such as calmness, bravery, success, happiness etc.

We are using anchors all the time most often, completely unconsciously. Do you have a particular song that you associate with a holiday or your lover or other great event in your life when the moment you hear it, it is as if you are right back there feeling the same feelings you experienced when the event originally happened, even though this original event may have happened months or years previously? That song is an anchor for you. Advertisers are using anchors on us all the time by getting us to associate great positive emotions with their products. For the men out there, what kinds of emotions are triggered in you when you see the Gillette razorblade advert?

These anchors happen unconsciously however you can program yourself with positive anchors such as confidence, calmness etc. and here is how you do it. For this example, lets say you wish to create an anchor for confidence.

Step 1. Think of a time in the past when you were really confident. For me it was towards the end of the final in the National Rowing Championships in 1997 when I won a national title. Imagine this time and make it as colourful, vivid and alive as you possibly can in your mind. Use all your senses, notice the sounds, the smells, what you see, who you are with, what you taste, notice how you are breathing, and notice your posture.

Step 2. When you have this image in your mind at maximum intensity, make a physical gesture (anchor) such as touching your ear or crossing your fingers or anything subtle that other people will not notice that you would not normally do. I touch my thumb and 2^nd finger on the right hand for confidence. As soon as the intensity of the moment starts to fade (normally after 5-10seconds) break the anchor.

Step 3. Relax and if you are sitting, get up and move around then after a few moments repeat steps 1 and 2, go back in your mind to that great moment of bubbling confidence, tap into all your senses and when the intensity of all those feeling at their peak again, trigger the anchor.

Step 4. Test the anchor. Relax and when your mind is free and not thinking about that great time of confidence in the past, trigger your anchor and you should find that you get an instant sense of confidence. If you do not, try raising the intensity a little bit more and repeat the anchoring process several more times. If it does not work first time, stick with it for a while, it does work.

You can use this same process to trigger other positive emotions, just remember to use a different and distinct anchor for different emotions.

I would be very interested to hear how you get on with this tool, so please feel free to drop me a line with your comments. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Copyright © 2006 Synergy Coaching Services.