Confident Communication for Women in the Workplace Post-Course Activities

Use these models to help you be more confident in the workplace

Diaphragmatic-Abdominal Breathing Exercise

  • Ring fence five minutes each day to practice diaphragmatic breathing exclusively.

  • Sitting with both feet connected to the floor, your spine long and the top of your head extending towards the ceiling, gently breathe in via your nostrils for 3 seconds.

  • As you reach the three second point, notice a subtle pause before you exhale out of your mouth for 4 seconds allowing your body to return to a neutral position, before next breathing in again. Maintain the 3 seconds in – 4 seconds out pattern for 5 minutes.

  • Avoid elevating the upper chest and shoulder areas - focus your breathing action low instead.

  • If you notice any pain, strain, or dizziness – please stop immediately and wait for the sensations to pass before repeating.

 

Cat and Dog Exercise

  • Adopt the Cat body language in meetings where you need to build credibility.

  • • Practice the upright balanced posture with palms down in your arm gestures ahead of attending and maintain these outlooks frequently throughout the meeting.

  • • Use your ‘palms down’ gesture when you go to speak and again, to reinforce a crucial point.

  • • When quiet, you can rest your palms down on your upper thighs to maintain your credibility.

  • • After the meeting, take an inventory of how well you did: Did you sense you communicated with more gravitas? Were you more confident in the meeting?

  • • Scale yourself between 1 and 5 (with one being weak and five being excellent): note this down.

  • • Continue to use the daily diaphragmatic breathing routine, conscious approaches to breathing and speaking in a meeting and self-scaling/reflective activities for one month and then review what has changed beneficially for you during this time.

  • • For further reading see: Charisma: The Art of Relationship by Michael Grinder, MGA Publishing Consortium:pub:2010)

  • actice the upright balanced posture with palms down in your arm gestures ahead of attending and maintain these outlooks frequently throughout the meeting.

  • Use your ‘palms down’ gesture when you go to speak and again, to reinforce a crucial point.

  • When quiet, you can rest your palms down on your upper thighs to maintain your credibility.

  • After the meeting, take an inventory of how well you did: Did you sense you communicated with more gravitas? Were you more confident in the meeting?

  • Scale yourself between 1 and 5 (with one being weak and five being excellent): note this down.

  • Continue to use the daily diaphragmatic breathing routine, conscious approaches to breathing and speaking in a meeting and self-scaling/reflective activities for one month and then review what has changed beneficially for you during this time.

  • For further reading see: Charisma: The Art of Relationship by Michael Grinder, MGA Publishing Consortium:pub:2010)

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