The second in a series of three blogs by Garth Bardsley about three qualities Result CIC can help you foster and develop: Resilience, Confidence and Motivation.

Confidence: (noun)
A belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable; The state of feeling certain about the truth of something; A feeling of self-assurance arising from an appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities; A secret or private matter told to someone under a condition of trust.

Easy to define, perhaps, but not so easy to embody. What is confidence, where does it come from, or how might one acquire a healthy dollop?

I have spent my life in the Arts as an actor, singer, writer, university lecturer and director. To stand up in front of a crowd – whether they be students or an audience (they’re both paying after all!) requires a certain amount of confidence in oneself as well as the information you aim to impart. Now, you’d think that the more you do something the more confident you might become however, that is not always the case. A little bit of caution alongside an avoidance of complacency must surely be a good thing – when one is performing a level of nervous excitement is often beneficial - but how can it be, that after years and years of acting or lecturing, singing or directing (in essence repeating and honing one’s skills), one can suddenly feel very unconfident indeed.

Stage Fright:
Some years ago, I had a truly horrible experience as an actor when on the very last day of the run, I was standing in the wings waiting for my first entrance when, out of the blue, a thought came into my mind that I could not remember any of my lines. My heart started to race, and try as I might, I was not able to convince myself that everything would be ok. And it wasn’t… I managed to get through two performances that day, not knowing what would come out of my mouth until the moment I opened it to speak or sing. Writing about this now makes me feel physically sick and very anxious. The experience affected me for many months afterwards, and to this day, I have no idea why it happened or why my brain would want to cause such levels of anxiety… to itself!

Why do we put so little trust in ourselves at times when we are often keen to trust others around us - especially those who ooze confidence?

Whoah, wrong room!:
Another curious phenomenon is our old friend the ‘imposter syndrome’. So very many people suffer from this odd type of self-doubt; the belief that somehow despite years of experience, despite tons of empirical evidence of success, and despite the lack of anyone else seemingly doubting your ability or expertise (indeed they often acknowledge it with promotions, prizes and praise) we genuinely feel that we are in some way not qualified, that we should not be in the room, and that sooner or later we will be found out and exposed for the charlatan that for some unfathomable reason, we believe ourselves to be. Crazy!!! But those of us who suffer can take some comfort in the knowledge that we are in good company – very good company – Maya Angelou, Tom Hanks, Serena Williams, Lady Gaga, even Albert Einstein to name but a few! All of the above admitted to periods, sometimes lifelong, when they were filled with self-doubt.

Just a thought, but perhaps the world would be a better and considerably safer place if every human felt this way. Perhaps a little more self-doubt might rein in those who are singularly unaware of their shortcomings and those who mistakenly overestimate their own (very) limited talents. Having said that, there is clearly something very attractive about people who seem to have confidence in spades – after all, we do call them confidence tricksters.

A lack of confidence is often linked to a lack of self-esteem, but this is a false relation – correlation is not necessarily causation. Both can be learned and developed but perhaps the best word is nurtured. Through love and kindness, parents can instil both qualities in their children; likewise, we can each help the other gain confidence and develop self-esteem if we truly exhibit respect for each other – isn’t this what teachers aim to do from the get-go? What I believe is true is that healthy self-esteem can most certainly help build one’s confidence; however, gaining confidence does not necessarily raise one’s self-esteem. It is also true that confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy; those without it may fail simply because they lack it, and those with it may succeed because they have it – what complex creatures we humans are! I trust me:

Self-confidence is often described as having trust in oneself, and I think this is the crux. To have trust and confidence in a third party, we want to believe that we are safe and secure, that something or someone is reliable, and that those in whom we place our trust are authentic, honest, and trustworthy. If this is the case then surely self-confidence makes the very same demands; we must feel safe and secure in who we are, we must demonstrate that we can be relied upon, and we must practise being authentic, honest, and trustworthy. We must develop a sufficient belief in ourselves so that we feel confident enough to share ourselves with the public, whether that takes place on a stage, a podium, in a classroom, or in the privacy of one’s own home in the company of a friend. Being honest with oneself is often very challenging – it is deeply uncomfortable to recognise or identify one’s own failings or weaknesses, but if one is to present one’s authentic self, then self-honesty is imperative. It is self-evident that if we lack faith in ourselves, it is highly likely that others will too.

I have, up until now, been referring to the individual as just that, an individual with a single train of thought; however, I cannot be the only one who has an inner voice that has a tendency to defy logic, ignore evidence, and cause emotional havoc when it decides to throw into the mix a great big helping of self-doubt. Where does that voice come from and why? Self-doubt alongside self-criticism would seem to be formed throughout childhood – certainly what we receive and perceive around us as we grow up has a profound effect upon the way we think about ourselves. Hypercritical feedback from people you count upon can lead to a sense of never being quite good enough and therefore not deserving of success. These seeds of doubt, planted so very early on in life have a habit of multiplying across the years. However, if a child receives positive messages that nurture self-belief, then it is more likely that they will grow up to be self-assured and evince confidence. On the other hand, if a child receives no correction or criticism at all but is only ever praised or excused, then they may start to believe they can do no wrong.

One step towards nurturing self-confidence is to understand the notion of self-efficacy. Whereas self-confidence is a general personality characteristic, self-efficacy is a belief in one’s ability to accomplish a specific task or goal. By acknowledging one’s proven ability to do something, you can quieten the inner voice, reassuring yourself that there is no evidence that this lack of confidence is based on anything real. I know that my own fears at times of walking into the rehearsal room as a director or into the classroom as a lecturer were not rational, and I had to reassure myself, remind myself that there really was no earthly reason to be so anxious. Once in the room that anxiety disappeared as I got my teeth into the business at hand and discovered (again) that I was perfectly capable of completing the task.

Confidence can be learned:
As Amy Cuddy writes in her book, Presence; ‘…affirm the values, traits and strengths that represent our authentic best self. It is a way of grounding ourselves in the truth of our own stories.’

In recent years, ResultCIC ran Ideas into Action workshops titled Presenter Confidence. This was created for budding social entrepreneurs from refugee backgrounds. One of the areas of discussion was the very nature of the human brain and how it operates. We can separate the brain into several areas: the neocortex (rational or thinking brain) and the limbic brain (emotions and feelings). Both areas (and the decisions they make) are informed and guided by the library of experience and knowledge – your brain’s computer hard disk if you like – and consequently it is sometimes very difficult indeed to distinguish between rational thought and strong, seemingly logical feelings as both are making use of the same body of knowledge to support their case. During the workshops, Result associates guided the participants through a process to help them quieten the sabotaging, emotional brain and thereby allow the rational brain to take control.

• Recognise  
  Recognise your limbic brain is kicking in, asking ‘Fight or flight?’
• Reflect/reassure  
  Take a few moments to recognise why your brain is giving you these signals. Then reassure yourself.
• Investigate  
  Turn to your ‘human brain’ and ask what you rationally want to happen.
• Check  
  Check with your ‘computer’ brain what assumptions you may be making. Get rid of any ‘gremlins’. 

Another aspect of the coaching is to reprogramme the way we think about specific situations. In the world of performance practice, one cannot simply stop doing something – an habitual and meaningless hand gesture for instance – without replacing that ‘tic’ with something else. Likewise, the participants were asked to move away from judging and commenting and move towards a learning response. The Judger might promote mostly negative thoughts such as:

• Why did I agree to give this speech?
• Who wants to hear about me anyway?
• Why am I putting myself in this embarrassing situation?
• How can I escape?!

Whereas the Learner sees more positive possibilities:

• Who could be out there in the audience?
• What could they be interested in?
• What opportunities could come from this speech?
• How can I make the most of this?

Confidence and self-confidence are all about self-belief. A belief in oneself and one’s abilities that is based on lived experience and real evidence. Recognising what you have already achieved, identifying what the desired outcome might be, and being kind enough to yourself to be wholly honest can and does help build confidence.

 I have always told my students that an audience wants to be entertained, transported and for that to happen, they need to feel confident that the performer(s) are capable of delivering what is required. It is reasonable, therefore, to presume that an audience wants the performer to succeed rather than fail. We have to believe in that as it is in essence, a vote of confidence in you and your abilities.

One-to-one coaching can make all the difference when it comes to finding and developing confidence. One learns that it really is ok to love oneself just a bit and celebrate what you have achieved, who you are and what you have to offer.

So, a message to myself for 2026 – stop doubting myself and rely on the evidence.

I’ve got this… and so have you!

We are what we do and we love what we do.