Boosting your confidence

A lack of confidence can affect all of us in our personal and professional lives, and this can sometimes hold members of our talented workforce back from excelling in their careers.

Examples of this include:

- Rapid promotion meaning it’s difficult to gain management experience along the way
- Feeling unsure about who and how to ask for support when you are struggling in a role
- Apprehension about stepping back into the industry after taking time out

Our pilot Confidence Booster Programme ran in Spring 2022 and was designed to support industry workers who face barriers caused, or made worse, by a lack of confidence. It was immediately clear how valuable the programme was to its participants, who were able to move forward with a renewed feeling of self-belief in themselves and their careers.

That’s why we’ve decided to curate some specific, valuable advice from our Confidence Booster coach, Kate Maxell, making more widely available some of the tools that everyone in the industry needs to combat a lack of confidence.

Together with Kate, we’ve produced three specific Confidence Boosting exercises. We’ve also collated advice regarding Imposter Syndrome, the impact of life experiences on your confidence, and the control you have over your own confidence.

You can also watch our recent Q&A with Kayleigh Llewellyn, which was hosted by Talent Manager. During that session, the BAFTA-winning writer and producer of ‘In My Skin’, and Film and TV Charity beneficiary, opened up about how her confidence has developed over the years. Watch the webinar now

Confidence Boosting Exercises

We’ve created Three Confidence Boosting Exercises for you to use (which you can access below)

- Ask Five People, Five Things: this activity invites you to collect feedback from various parts of your life, look at the strengths revealed and adjust your self-perception to be more positive
- Creating a Success Timeline: a practical tool to build up a view of your achievements, looking at the part you played, the strengths you used and celebrating your successes!
- How to – Internal Validation: internalising your successes and strengths is a crucial skill to practice improving your self-esteem and confidence levels; this worksheet shows you how

Sometimes, specific issues can impact confidence. We are here to help at all times, if you are experiencing bullying, harassment, or discrimination you can also access our Bullying Advice Service. Here you can speak to one of the team by calling our 24/7 free, confidential Film & TV Support Line.

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Confidence Boosting Exercises

Ask Five People, Five Things

This activity invites you to collect feedback from various parts of your life, look at the strengths revealed and adjust your self-perception to be more positive

Take me to exercise one

How to - Internal Validation

Internalising your successes and strengths is a crucial skill to practice improving your self-esteem and confidence levels; this worksheet shows you how

Take me to exercise two

Creating a success timeline

A practical tool to build up a view of your achievements, looking at the part you played, the strengths you used and celebrating your successes!

Take me to exercise three

How Confidence Impacts You

Our confidence levels have a huge impact on the way we live. From how we interact with the world around us, to the way we process failure. How confident we feel can determine the trajectory of our lives. So, what is confidence?

- It’s an act of trust and acceptance
- An awareness of our strengths, and weaknesses but without over-emphasising either
- It’s being an active player in your life, making decisions independently and with a sense of control
- Believing in your ability to learn and adapt in the face of failure
- Ultimately, confidence is having a positive view of yourself

Imposter Syndrome

It can be common to feel like an ‘imposter’ if you experience low confidence. This is known as ‘Imposter Syndrome’. Some key behaviors of someone experiencing imposter syndrome are:

- Diluting or not accepting compliments
- Putting your successes down to luck
- Minimising your achievements
- Maximising your deficiencies

However, for many people this concept has its limitations, as authors Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey point out:

“Feeling like an outsider isn’t an illusion — it’s the result of systemic bias and exclusion”.

Our environment plays a huge part in how confident we feel. From childhood onwards, the setting we live in, to a degree determines how we see ourselves.

Life Experiences

Confidence is not an entirely personal affair. Experiences of bullying, harassment and discrimination play a significant role in our self-perception and are a major factor in low-self-esteem. Major life changes like job loss, relationship breakdowns, as well as changes to physical health or financial stability, all play a part in how confident we feel. Research has also found a confidence gap between men and women, suggesting that confidence is also societal.

It’s All in Your Control

It may not seem it at times, but having control over your own confidence is attainable. Some practices you can implement to help with regaining control over your own self-confidence include:

- Learning to accept compliments
- Internalising your achievements
- Putting your weaknesses into perspective
- Celebrating your successes

These are all excellent ways to build your confidence and create a more positive view of yourself. Your confidence isn’t fixed, and will naturally fluctuate over time. It is a muscle that can be trained to be stronger and more resilient.

If you want to go deeper, or get more support building your confidence levels, coaching is an excellent way to do this. Get in touch with Kate via her website, or email [email protected], to organise an introduction, have a virtual coffee, and explore how you could work together. Kate can also recommend contacts from her network, and would always suggest looking for coaches who have undergone reputable training and who are linked with one of the main coaching bodies: the International Coaching Federation, the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, or the Association for Coaching.